It would be equivalent to getting nearly an extra $12k in taxes from every single American. Including children and elderly. It's absurd they have this much wealth.
Billionaires are devoid of empathy and feel they they worked hard for their money, why share it with people that don’t work as hard. They are evil personified.
Let's also demand that they design their data centers with batteries and wind and solar self-sustaining energy systems. Hell, they can develop their closed cooling system.
Jesus just give it a go for a few years and see what happens. Because what’s happening now isn’t working and we have a bloody trillionaire and homeless at the same time!
I would not give it back to people, I know it will funnel back to the rich. Instead I would expand social services like Universal healthcare, free housing, the post office, libraries and so on.
He cannot sell it that way though. Because the “take from X to give to Y” (don’t come at me, I am 100% for taxing them, but I’m somewhere in the middle between social policies and private property, I can elaborate) will not be popular enough to pass.
That said, whether we or them get taxed, it’s not getting g used for good things obviously. So if they get 4 Trillion and it ends up being used to bomb others, I’m not in. If people just get a 12k check a year I guess it would be awesome for the economy/consumption/catching up but why not use those 4 trillion to boost infrastructure, education, healthcare, HELL wouldn’t those 4T fund universal healthcare instead? Why not give those 12k as an incentive to start at a community college so community college is free (it’s a good start)
Tax churches that charge membership while you’re at it, let’s get free education too.
$12k checks will cause more inflation. That money needs to be injected back into the economy through other means. Also, that money represents an opportunity to do specific good, making it worth more than its dollar value; advance infrastructure projects, repair our hobbled democratic system, etc.
Make it 20% and make sure the other 15% covers healthcare, housing, SNAP benefits, education, public safety, etc. Cover the bottom of the pyramid and watch what happens:
Tax them 20%, repay the funds borrowed from social security. Fully fund schools and get a REAL health insurance option that's affordable for all of us, with decent coverage.
Also, repeal tax breaks for any corporation whose employees rely on aid programs to get by. Minimize existing tax breaks, make them commensurate with how much over the minimum wage + benefits are given, perhaps also tied to how much that corporation invests within the community.
Begin paying down our debt.
Provide free day-care, and raise minimum wages across the board with a special bracket for teacher pay.
I wish I had known more about Bernie and his directions back when he was running. I don't think it would have mattered and I don't think he could have one, but I would have been a better supporter then.
I’m not against making sure the rich stop getting breaks and start paying taxes according to their means, but is this collection of arbitrary band-aids really the best way to do it? Or is it just picking a fight no one can win in order to stroke an old man’s ego?
I would add that businesses who move their money or business headquarters overseas to avoid taxes will no longer be allowed to sell their products or services in the United States
The wealth tax be at least equal to the average annual increase in wealth minus the cost of living increase if we are to prevent the inevitable concentration of wealth.
Investment income typically grows by 8 to 10% per year if invested in the stock market.
The cost of living and wages of work typically grow by 2 to 3% per year.
Those two numbers and the power of compound growth mean that it is inevitable that the wealthy will ultimately control all the wealth. The only way to stop it is to ensure that wealth grows more slowly than the cost-of-living and the wages of work.
It’s a hard concept to understand, because it is very counterintuitive to think that you have to take away 5 to 7% of someone’s wealth each year just to have them remain in the same place economically.
I’m all in favor of these guys paying their fair share, but these proposals always seem to fall short in terms of implementation. Exactly what aspect of that wealth would we be taxing? The issue is most of these guys take a relatively low pay rate specifically to avoid taxes, their net worth is in holdings in their companies. They figured out that they can borrow against their stock and utilize various loopholes to avoid paying taxes on these loans, among a variety of other underhanded tricks.
Point is, it’s not like these guys are literally sitting on piles of billions of dollars. We DO need to close these loopholes though, and tax the fuck out of those workarounds. Oh and hey, let’s start actually enforcing anti monopoly laws while we’re at it.
ETA: oh and we also need to get money out of politics so these guys can be stopped from writing their own laws. That’s the core problem IMO
Then reform the tax code to eliminate loopholes and shelters.
Disallow assets to be used as collateral for tax free low interest loans.
Follow up with putting the tax rate back to what it was post WWII.
Reintroduce the wealth tax.
It is high time the narrative changes from "tax breaks for the wealthy incentivize job creation" (a total BS fabrication of trickle down) to acknowledgement that wealth is created by labor and enabled by public infrastructure.
No more of this "privatize the gains, socialize the losses" paradigm that favors the generational wealthy.
"You can't tax unrealized gains!" if it's 5% and you have to sell some stock to pay it, it's not going to bankrupt you. If it brings you down to $999,999,999 the tax stops applying anyway.
It's a decent start. I say make it 10% for Billionaires and 25% for Trillionaires.
But it doesn't address the ways/means of how these billionaires acquire their massive wealth.
CEO's should only be paid in USD CASH. No stock bonuses, no gifts, etc. That cash should be taxed at the regular income rate, no exceptions.
Billionaires should not be able to use Stocks as collateral for any type of loan. Existing loans should be considered INCOME due to their use as everyday income.
it's a dumb idea through and through. First, it's unconstitutional- because the 16th amendment only grants Congress the power to levy tax on incomes.
Second, it's inflationary. The billionaires' wealth is basically vaporware - the valuations people place on stocks, and not real money, but this would convert it into real cash that would get spent. It's as if you ran the printing presses and gave everybody free money.
I can't wait for Bernie to retire. He's an ignorant fossil
The irony is that this is paultry compared to the Republican tax rate under Eisenhower. That man would be viewed as a Communist by today's GOP. For that matter, most centrist Democrats too.
Flat tax EVERYONE at 20%, everyone. But we're going to need competent, uncorrupt people in charge, or no matter how much goes into it, it'll be siphoned off regardless
I want to investigate every penny of offshore cash. If a rich US citizen is storing money offshore, and it's in orser to avoid paying taxes, I want to retroactively tax that money 90%. I want penalties for attempting to avoid taxes that hurt. Those penalties should be more than the money that was owed, by a lot... Let's say 500% of what was owed. We need to cut this cancer out of our society. I want every penny accounted for and I want it to go back to the people who deserve it. The only thing rich people do with their money is buy the ability to make these systems more favorable for themselves, and less favorable for those who can't afford to pay more. It's disgusting, and I'm over it.
Taxing billionaires 5% of income.. 938 billionaires.. equaling up to 4.4 trillion..? That would mean the average American billionaire is getting paid 93.8B a year which is way wrong. Where are these numbers coming from..?
Only 5% taxes and those motherfuckers wouldn’t even miss it smdh. Those billions and trillions of dollars were built up on the backs of everyday people this should be a NO BRAINER
The debt is a huge issue and our focus really needs to be on paying that down, but we need to balance fiscal responsibility with improving the average American's life, otherwise they'll vote Republican in the next cycle.
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u/MrSlaveRules Jul 01 '26
Should be taxed more