September, 24 2019, 12:00am EDT
Patriotic Millionaires Welcome Bernie Sanders's Wealth Tax Proposal to National Tax Debate
"We need each and every one of the 2020 presidential candidates to enunciate the problem clearly and put forth real, substantive solutions to wealth inequality in this country."
WASHINGTON
This morning, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released a wealth tax proposal entitled "Tax on Extreme Wealth" as part of his 2020 Presidential campaign platform. In response, Morris Pearl, former managing director at Blackrock, Inc., and Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, issued the following statement:
"The wealthiest people in this country haven't been paying their fair share for a long time, and part of that problem is because our tax code only taxes the wealthy based on how much income they choose to take each year. The very rich get money not from earning it each year, but from spending wealth that they have already made. If our tax laws only target one without touching the other, then rich folks like me will continue to find ways to game the system and our inequality crisis will continue to get worse.
There are many ways to address wealth inequality, and Senator Sanders's wealth tax proposal this morning is a welcome addition to our national tax debate. We need each and every one of the 2020 presidential candidates to enunciate the problem clearly and put forth real, substantive solutions to wealth inequality in this country. We are thrilled to see this proposal and look forward to more dialogue on this critical issue moving forward in the debates."
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
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