Bernie Sanders: 'Billionaires should not exist'

[left-of-center2012]

Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled a tax on wealth Tuesday as he aims to cut income inequality and fund his sprawling social programs.

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate’s proposal follows a similar plan from Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has made a wealth tax a centerpiece of her White House campaign. But the measure from Sanders, who has long railed against an economic system that he says favors corporations and the rich, would tax the richest Americans’ assets more heavily than his rival’s.

The Sanders campaign said the levy would apply to net worth above $32 million and raise an estimated $4.35 trillion over the next 10 years. It plans to put the funds toward an affordable housing plan, universal child care and “Medicare for All” — the candidate’s signature proposal. The campaign said the tax would cut the wealth of billionaires in half over 15 years.

In a pair of tweets after he released the proposal, Sanders said “billionaires should not exist.” He added: “We are going to tax their extreme wealth and invest in working people.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/24/bernie-sanders-proposes-wealth-tax-after-plan-from-elizabeth-warren.html

[Hortensis]

1. Could be considered support for our party leaders' positions, I suppose.

But seriously, the more the message is spread, the better. I just wish I thought he wouldn't fight any steps Democrats ultimately take. Because, you know, we're really mostly just the same as the Republicans.

"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." Nancy Pelosi speakingto the nation at the opening of the 116th congress.

[kstewart33]

2. Gotta say this is absurd.

Doesn't have a chance in heck of becoming law. Bern's getting really desperate.

[NurseJackie]

6. Yes... that's a great way to describe it. The BS campaign is desperate.

Bern's getting really desperate.

Yes... that's a great way to describe it. The BS campaign is desperate.

He knows it and his followers know it too.

[George II]

3. Very poor choice of words if you ask me! I'm reading on CNN that the money raised with this tax...

...will be used to help pay for the (ahem, fully funded) Medicare for All.

[thesquanderer]

4. Like any program, it is fully funded if you find the funds.

There are multiple proposals for finding the funds. This is one of them.

[George II]

10. In other words, "trust me, pass M4A and we'll find the money for it."

[thesquanderer]

13. Multiple ways of paying for it have been proposed. Ultimately, it won't pass without funding.

It will be up to congress to decide on the mechanism to fund it, from the various options presented.

[sandensea]

5. "That commienist! Whut if WE git to be billionaires sumday!?"

[thesquanderer]

7. But billionaires may only be billionaires on paper. It's the stock they own in their companies.

If they actually liquidated enough stock to have billions in cash (or to pay a decent percentage of it to the government in taxes), they'd crash the value of the stock, and they'd be worth a lot less before they even got close to liquidating it all.

Of course, these billionaires don't *need* to liquidate stock to live like billionaires, because the stock can be used as collateral, so they can essentially get as much of the money as they want without liquidating.

I don't know how you address this with taxation. Unless I'm totally misunderstanding something.

[Blue_true]

14. You have several good points.

Bezos is worth something like $120 billion on paper, on paper! In actuality, he is worth far, far less. As you pointed out, if he tried to cash in his billions, the actual cash take would be much less than paper value.

The people that are likely true billionaires are the ones that own highly successful pass-thru corporations. As long as they properly fund company operations, the value of the company on paper actually reflects their net worth, and can give an indication of how much money they take out each year.

I believe that rich people should invest in things like affordable housing, affordable food, free school meals for students, affordable medical care, simply as a matter of self-defense. If society collapse around them, they will be penniless (what they do have can easily be taken from them, with no law to prevent that).

[PhoenixDem]

8. This is bizarre

I'd rather like an America where every child grows up to want to be a billionaire - by inventing new technology, finding a better way of doing things or solving humanity's problems like AIDS, Cancer, food shortages.

If we don't invent it here, it will be invented somewhere else, we'll buy it from them at a higher price and create billionaires in other countries where there are no socialist guillotines.

[George II]

9. Exactly. Bill Gates is a billionaire and for what he's done with computers, software, and his...

...Foundation, he deserves every penny of it.

[PhoenixDem]

11. That is another point I missed

The more we tax them, the less they will have available for charity and so a lot of NGOs would suffer, their money diverted to pay free tuition for brats and frats.

Warren Buffet has already pledged half his wealth to charity and that initiative has been joined by some 137 billionaires already.

[George II]

12. In other words, many in "the billionaire class" speak with deeds.

[MrsCoffee]

15. Guess he can't include millionaires anymore.