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Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, drew condemnation from economic justice groups on Thursday over his opposition to a wealth tax that would help fund social supports in the Build Back Better Act. (Photo: Daniel Oberhaus/Flickr/cc)
\u201c@wapodavenport US national debt is ~$28,900 billion or ~$229k per taxpayer.\n\nEven taxing all \u201cbillionaires\u201d at 100% would only make a small dent in that number, so obviously the rest must come from the general public. This is basic math.\n\nSpending is the real problem.\n\nhttps://t.co/1EwWyqdVsT\u201d— Christian Davenport (@Christian Davenport) 1635300823
"Millions of hard-working people who do their part for the country every day, while entitled 'technokings' like Elon Musk shirk their most basic responsibilities."
The billionaires' tax would also address glaring flaws in our tax code that deserve attention in their own right: They've driven soaring inequality and badly unbalanced our political economy. Fixing these would itself confer major benefits, irrespective of helping "pay for" Democratic investments.Musk's opposition helps illustrate this. Like many other rich people, his extreme wealth is partly the creation of government investment undertaken for the public good. But he's also perfectly happy to protect that wealth from fair taxation in ways that deprive the government of revenue for other socially beneficial investments, just as many other billionaires are.
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\u201c@wapodavenport US national debt is ~$28,900 billion or ~$229k per taxpayer.\n\nEven taxing all \u201cbillionaires\u201d at 100% would only make a small dent in that number, so obviously the rest must come from the general public. This is basic math.\n\nSpending is the real problem.\n\nhttps://t.co/1EwWyqdVsT\u201d— Christian Davenport (@Christian Davenport) 1635300823
"Millions of hard-working people who do their part for the country every day, while entitled 'technokings' like Elon Musk shirk their most basic responsibilities."
The billionaires' tax would also address glaring flaws in our tax code that deserve attention in their own right: They've driven soaring inequality and badly unbalanced our political economy. Fixing these would itself confer major benefits, irrespective of helping "pay for" Democratic investments.Musk's opposition helps illustrate this. Like many other rich people, his extreme wealth is partly the creation of government investment undertaken for the public good. But he's also perfectly happy to protect that wealth from fair taxation in ways that deprive the government of revenue for other socially beneficial investments, just as many other billionaires are.
\u201c@wapodavenport US national debt is ~$28,900 billion or ~$229k per taxpayer.\n\nEven taxing all \u201cbillionaires\u201d at 100% would only make a small dent in that number, so obviously the rest must come from the general public. This is basic math.\n\nSpending is the real problem.\n\nhttps://t.co/1EwWyqdVsT\u201d— Christian Davenport (@Christian Davenport) 1635300823
"Millions of hard-working people who do their part for the country every day, while entitled 'technokings' like Elon Musk shirk their most basic responsibilities."
The billionaires' tax would also address glaring flaws in our tax code that deserve attention in their own right: They've driven soaring inequality and badly unbalanced our political economy. Fixing these would itself confer major benefits, irrespective of helping "pay for" Democratic investments.Musk's opposition helps illustrate this. Like many other rich people, his extreme wealth is partly the creation of government investment undertaken for the public good. But he's also perfectly happy to protect that wealth from fair taxation in ways that deprive the government of revenue for other socially beneficial investments, just as many other billionaires are.