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tax the rich
Progressives Can Learn From These 5 Secrets to Mamdani's Success
I think these five qualities—authenticity, a focus on the needs of average working families, a willingness to take on the rich and powerful, the capacity to inspire, and cheerfulness—will win elections, not only in New York City but across America.
Oct 31, 2025
Rather than belabor you with the latest Trump outrages, I want to share with you conclusions I’ve drawn from my conversation Wednesday with Zohran Mamdani (you can find it here) about why he has a very good chance of being elected mayor of New York City on Tuesday.
He has five qualities that I believe are likely to succeed in almost any political race across America today. If a 34-year-old state assemblyman representing Astoria, Queens, who was born in Uganda and calls himself a democratic socialist, can get this far and likely win, others can as well—but they have to understand and be capable of utilizing his secret sauce.
Here are the five ingredients:
1. Authenticity. Mamdani is the real thing. He’s not trying to be someone other than who he is, and the person he is comes through clear as a bell. I’ve been around politicians for most of my life (even ran once for governor of Massachusetts) and have seen some who are slick, some who are clever, some who are witty, some who are stiff, but rarely have I come across someone with as much authenticity as Mamdani. Authenticity is the single most important quality voters are looking for now: someone who is genuine. Who’s trustworthy because they project credibility and solidity. Whose passion feels grounded in reality.
2. Concern for average working people. Mamdani isn’t a policy wonk who spouts 10-point plans that cause people’s eyes to glaze over. Nor is he indifferent to policy. Listen to his answers to my questions and you’ll hear a lot about the needs of average working people. That’s his entire focus. Many politicians say they’re on the side of average working people, but Mamdani has specific ideas for making New York City more affordable. I’m not sure they’ll all work, but I’m sure voters are responding to him in part because his focus is indisputable and his ideas are clear and understandable.
3. Willingness to take on the powerful and the wealthy. He doesn’t hesitate to say he’ll raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for what average working people need. You might think this would be standard fare for Democrats, but it’s not. These days, many are scared to propose anything like this for fear they’ll lose campaign funding from big corporations and the rich. But Mamdani’s campaign isn’t being financed by big corporations or the rich. Because of New York City’s nearly four-decade-old clean elections system that matches small-dollar donations with public money, Mamdani has had nearly $13 million of government funds to run a campaign against tens of millions of dollars that corporate and Wall Street Democrats—and plenty of Republicans—have spent to boost Democratic former governor Andrew Cuomo. We need such public financing across the nation.
4. Inspiration. Many people are inspired by Mamdani. Over 90,000 New Yorkers are now going door-to-door canvassing for him (including my 17-year-old granddaughter). Why is he so inspiring? Again, watch our conversation. It’s not only his authenticity but also his energy, his good-heartedness, and his optimism. At a time when so many of us are drenched in the daily darkness of President Donald Trump, Mamdani’s positivity feels like sunshine. It lifts one up. It makes politics almost joyful. He gives it a purpose and meaning that causes people to want to be involved.
5. Cheerfulness. Which brings me to the fifth quality that has made this improbable candidate into a front-runner: his remarkable cheerfulness. Watch his face during our discussion. He smiled or laughed much of the time. This wasn’t empty-headed euphoria or “morning in America” campaign rubbish. It’s directly connected to a thoughtfulness that’s rare in a politician, especially one nearing the end of a campaign—who’s had to answer the same questions hundreds if not thousands of times. He exudes a buoyancy and hope that’s infectious. It’s the opposite of the scowling Trump. It is what Americans want and need, especially now.
There’s obviously much more to it, but I think these five qualities—authenticity, a focus on the needs of average working families, a willingness to take on the rich and powerful in order to pay for what average working families need, the capacity to inspire, and a cheerfulness and buoyancy—will win elections, not only in New York City but across America.
Mamdani hasn’t won yet, and New York’s Democratic establishment is doing whatever it can to stop him (Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s billionaire former mayor, just put $1.5 million into a super PAC supporting Andrew Cuomo’s bid and urged New Yorkers to vote for Cuomo).
If Mamdani wins, his success should be a lesson for all progressives and all Democrats across America.
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'There Is No Lack of Money': Climate Movement Demands Billionaire Tax to Fund Greener Future
"A fair billionaire tax could fund climate flood prevention, clean air, green cities, affordable housing, and nature protection," said one Greenpeace campaigner.
Oct 30, 2025
As Hurricane Melissa leaves a trail of destruction in the Caribbean and the world prepares for the next United Nations climate summit, campaigners this week are demanding taxes to make the superrich pay for creating a better future for all, including by transitioning away from planet-wrecking fossil fuels to renewable energy.
An Oxfam International report released Tuesday found that consumption-based carbon emissions of the richest 0.1% of the global population surged by 92 tonnes between 1990 and 2023, while CO2 pollution from the poorest half of humanity grew by just 0.1 tonnes.
The following day, the UK government released a new climate action plan for the next 12 years. The country aims to decarbonize its electricity supply by 2030 and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The climate group 350.org responded by urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to introduce a tax on ultrawealthy individuals and polluting companies.
"Ordinary people are already paying the price for a crisis they didn't cause—from failed harvests here in the UK to devastation from Hurricane Melissa overseas," 350.org UK campaigner Matilda Borgström said in a statement. "The government's plan will only work if it is funded fairly."
"There's more than enough wealth in this country to pay for affordable clean energy, warm homes, and secure jobs," Borgström argued. "The question for Rachel Reeves is simple: Whose side is she on, ordinary people or the superrich?"
BREAKING: 80+ young people are outside the Treasury right now to tell Rachel Reeves: make tax the super-rich PAY UP - or step down.This Budget, it's time for Reeves to pick a side: us or the billionaires. For wealth taxes to fund investment in a better future.
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— Green New Deal Rising (@gndrising.bsky.social) October 27, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Meanwhile, Greenpeace on Thursday took aim at the wealthiest person on the planet, Elon Musk. As of Thursday, his estimated net worth is $472-490.2 billion, though he could become the world's first trillionaire if shareholders of electric vehicle giant Tesla approve his proposed CEO pay package next week.
Noting Tesla's annual general meeting on November 6, Greenpeace called on governments "to lay the ground for a global tax reform" negotiations for a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, scheduled to start in Nairobi, Kenya on November 10—the same day the climate summit, COP30, is set to begin in Belém, Brazil.
"Instead of enabling one person to become a trillionaire, governments should unlock that same scale of wealth—the $1.7 trillion, which a billionaire and multimillionaire tax could generate per year globally—to protect lives and secure our common future," said Fred Njehu, Greenpeace Africa political lead for the Fair Share campaign, in a statement.
"A fair billionaire tax could fund climate flood prevention, clean air, green cities, affordable housing, and nature protection," Njehu noted. "There is no lack of money, only a failure to make the richest of the rich pay their fair share. Governments must act on behalf of the majority of people and listen to what many economic experts suggest: Tax the superrich and their polluting corporations to finance a fair green transition."
A UN synthesis report published Tuesday shows that governments' climate plans, officially called Nationally Determined Contributions, would cut emissions by just 10% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels, dramatically short of what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping global temperature rise this century at 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.
"There is little mistaking the potential of the wealth tax to serve as a financial engine for environmental initiatives," Amir H. Khodadadi, an Iranian developmental economist focused on climate policy and green technology, wrote Wednesday for Earth.org. "Theoretically, a properly designed wealth tax could redistribute wealth and underwrite everything from renewable energy infrastructure to strategies for climate adaptation."
"Reality, however, is a good deal trickier," Khodadadi acknowledged. "As attractive as it is from those standpoints, using a wealth tax for climate action raises some very thorny questions about equity, effectiveness, and possible unintended consequences that will need to be thoughtfully weighed."
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Billionaires Spend Big to Tank Mamdani, Who Vows to 'Tax the Rich' in NYC
"Zohran Mamdani is showing the way for politicians who still haven't figured out that fairer taxes on the rich and corporations are both good policy and good politics," said the head of Americans for Tax Fairness.
Oct 28, 2025
A week away from Election Day in New York City, a national economic justice group on Tuesday released a report detailing how billionaires "outraged at the prospect of the rich and corporations paying higher taxes" have spent millions of dollars to defeat Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.
"Just 62 billionaires and descendants of billionaire families ('billionaire spenders') as of October 14th have contributed over one-third—37%, or $18.7 million—of all the donations collected by so-called outside expenditure groups involved in the race," according to the Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund (ATFAF) report, Billionaires Buying Gracie Mansion.
The publication notes that "almost all of that money has backed former New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo," who is running as an Indepedent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, a democratic socialist in the state Assembly who has campaigned on promises to make the metropolis more affordable for everyday people and "tax the rich!"
Specifically, 58 of the 62 billionaire spenders gave "a total of $18.4 million to Cuomo-aligned super political action committees (super PACs), ATFAF found. "Mamdani has received the support of just two billionaire spenders, who together have contributed $270,000 to outside PACs pushing his candidacy."
The report highlights that billionaire former NYC mayor and media mogul Michael Bloomberg, who has a net worth of roughly $109 billion, "is leading the anti-Mamdani charge, having personally donated $8.3 million to the main super PAC backing Cuomo."
Bloomberg and the dozens of other billionaires trying to sway the race "have spent nearly twice the amount 60,000 individual contributors have made directly to the three general election candidates (including Republican Curtis Sliwa)," the document details. "This is because unlike direct donations to candidates, there is no limit on contributions to outside spending groups."
New York is not only the nation's most populous city, it's also a billionaire hotspot. The report points out that "as of October 1st, New York City is the primary residence to 111 billionaires, according to Forbes, with lots more owning second homes or business property in the Big Apple. Collectively, these 111 billionaires are worth $717 billion, over six times the city's annual budget."
While Cuomo is backed by billionaires, Mamdani is endorsed by national progressive leaders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), whose district spans parts of the Bronx and Queens. The pair joined New York state leaders, including Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, for a massive Sunday night rally in support of Mamdani.
In addition to taxing corporations and the 1%, Mamdani's platform includes a rent freeze, constructing more affordable housing, city-owned grocery stores, fare-free buses, no-cost childcare, building out renewable energy on public lands, raising the minimum wage to $30 by 2030, and more.
The progressive candidate has also promised to stand up to Republican President Donald Trump, a former longtime New Yorker who has threatened to arrest Mamadani and to cut all federal funds to New York City if he is victorious next week. Recent polling suggests Mamdani is well-positioned to win the contest.
"Billionaires feel threatened by a modest proposal to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers to help make life more affordable for ordinary city residents. That’s why they’re spending millions to drown out the effort with their money," Americans for Tax Fairness executive director David Kass said in a Tuesday statement.
"Politicians and policymakers around the country should take note of how popular a progressive tax agenda can be with Americans across the political spectrum," Kass added. "Zohran Mamdani is showing the way for politicians who still haven't figured out that fairer taxes on the rich and corporations are both good policy and good politics."
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