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The biggest winners of the last decade, in terms of income and wealth growth, have not been even the richest 1 percent, but the richest one-tenth of 1 percent. (Phone: Shutterstock)
Tax the Rich Before the Rest
Candidates should pledge that the middle class won't pay $1 more in new taxes until billionaires put up at least $1 trillion.
Sep 04, 2019
Presidential candidates should take a pledge: The middle class should not pay one dollar more in new taxes until the super-rich pay their fair share.
Already candidates are outlining ambitious programs to improve health care, combat climate change, and address the opioid crisis -- and trying to explain how they'll pay for it.
President Trump, on the other hand, wants to give corporations and the richest 1 percent more tax breaks to keep goosing a lopsided economic boom -- even as deficit hawks moan about the exploding national debt and annual deficits topping $1 trillion.
Eventually someone is going to have to pay the bills. If history is a guide, the first to pay will be the broad middle class, thanks to lobbyists pulling the strings for the wealthy and big corporations.
Here's a different idea: Whatever spending plan is put forward, the first $1 trillion in new tax revenue should come exclusivelyfrom multi-millionaires and billionaires.
In an economy with staggering inequalities -- the income and wealth gaps are at their widest level in a century -- the middle class shouldn't be hit up a penny more until the rich pay up.
Four decades of stagnant wages plus runaway housing and health care costs have clobbered the middle class. In an economy with staggering inequalities -- the income and wealth gaps are at their widest level in a century -- the middle class shouldn't be hit up a penny more until the rich pay up.
The biggest winners of the last decade, in terms of income and wealth growth, have not been even the richest 1 percent, but the richest one-tenth of 1 percent. This 0.1 percent includes households with incomes over $2.4 million, and wealth starting at $32 million.
They own more wealth than the bottom 80 percent combined. Yet these multi-millionaires and billionaires have seen their taxes decline over the decades, in part because the tax code favors wealth over work.
This richest 0.1 percent receives two-thirds of their income from investments, while most working families have little capital income and depend on wages. But our rigged system taxes most investment income from wealth at a top rate of about 24 percent -- considerably lower than the top 37 percent rate for work.
One way to ensure that the wealthy pay first is to institute a 10 percent surtax on incomes over $2 million. This "multi-millionaire surtax" would raise nearly $600 billion in revenue over 10 years, according to an upcoming study from the Tax Policy Center.
The surtax would apply to income earned from work (wages and salaries) and to investment income gained from wealth, including capital gains and dividends. So those with capital income over $2 million would not get a preferential tax rate.
The multi-millionaire surtax is easy to understand, simple to apply, and effective -- because it covers all kinds of income, making it difficult for the wealthy to avoid.
And it is laser focused on the super-rich. Anyone earning below $2 million a year will not pay a dime.
As a nation, we will need to raise trillions to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and to address urgent priorities such as health care, climate change, child care, higher education, opioid addiction, and more.
The middle class should have 100 percent confidence that they won't be asked to pony up until Wall Street speculators and billionaires pay the piper. A multi-millionaire surtax is a good first step.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This column was distributed by OtherWords.
Chuck Collins
Chuck Collins is co-founder of CARP and author of Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet.
Presidential candidates should take a pledge: The middle class should not pay one dollar more in new taxes until the super-rich pay their fair share.
Already candidates are outlining ambitious programs to improve health care, combat climate change, and address the opioid crisis -- and trying to explain how they'll pay for it.
President Trump, on the other hand, wants to give corporations and the richest 1 percent more tax breaks to keep goosing a lopsided economic boom -- even as deficit hawks moan about the exploding national debt and annual deficits topping $1 trillion.
Eventually someone is going to have to pay the bills. If history is a guide, the first to pay will be the broad middle class, thanks to lobbyists pulling the strings for the wealthy and big corporations.
Here's a different idea: Whatever spending plan is put forward, the first $1 trillion in new tax revenue should come exclusivelyfrom multi-millionaires and billionaires.
In an economy with staggering inequalities -- the income and wealth gaps are at their widest level in a century -- the middle class shouldn't be hit up a penny more until the rich pay up.
Four decades of stagnant wages plus runaway housing and health care costs have clobbered the middle class. In an economy with staggering inequalities -- the income and wealth gaps are at their widest level in a century -- the middle class shouldn't be hit up a penny more until the rich pay up.
The biggest winners of the last decade, in terms of income and wealth growth, have not been even the richest 1 percent, but the richest one-tenth of 1 percent. This 0.1 percent includes households with incomes over $2.4 million, and wealth starting at $32 million.
They own more wealth than the bottom 80 percent combined. Yet these multi-millionaires and billionaires have seen their taxes decline over the decades, in part because the tax code favors wealth over work.
This richest 0.1 percent receives two-thirds of their income from investments, while most working families have little capital income and depend on wages. But our rigged system taxes most investment income from wealth at a top rate of about 24 percent -- considerably lower than the top 37 percent rate for work.
One way to ensure that the wealthy pay first is to institute a 10 percent surtax on incomes over $2 million. This "multi-millionaire surtax" would raise nearly $600 billion in revenue over 10 years, according to an upcoming study from the Tax Policy Center.
The surtax would apply to income earned from work (wages and salaries) and to investment income gained from wealth, including capital gains and dividends. So those with capital income over $2 million would not get a preferential tax rate.
The multi-millionaire surtax is easy to understand, simple to apply, and effective -- because it covers all kinds of income, making it difficult for the wealthy to avoid.
And it is laser focused on the super-rich. Anyone earning below $2 million a year will not pay a dime.
As a nation, we will need to raise trillions to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and to address urgent priorities such as health care, climate change, child care, higher education, opioid addiction, and more.
The middle class should have 100 percent confidence that they won't be asked to pony up until Wall Street speculators and billionaires pay the piper. A multi-millionaire surtax is a good first step.
Chuck Collins
Chuck Collins is co-founder of CARP and author of Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet.
Presidential candidates should take a pledge: The middle class should not pay one dollar more in new taxes until the super-rich pay their fair share.
Already candidates are outlining ambitious programs to improve health care, combat climate change, and address the opioid crisis -- and trying to explain how they'll pay for it.
President Trump, on the other hand, wants to give corporations and the richest 1 percent more tax breaks to keep goosing a lopsided economic boom -- even as deficit hawks moan about the exploding national debt and annual deficits topping $1 trillion.
Eventually someone is going to have to pay the bills. If history is a guide, the first to pay will be the broad middle class, thanks to lobbyists pulling the strings for the wealthy and big corporations.
Here's a different idea: Whatever spending plan is put forward, the first $1 trillion in new tax revenue should come exclusivelyfrom multi-millionaires and billionaires.
In an economy with staggering inequalities -- the income and wealth gaps are at their widest level in a century -- the middle class shouldn't be hit up a penny more until the rich pay up.
Four decades of stagnant wages plus runaway housing and health care costs have clobbered the middle class. In an economy with staggering inequalities -- the income and wealth gaps are at their widest level in a century -- the middle class shouldn't be hit up a penny more until the rich pay up.
The biggest winners of the last decade, in terms of income and wealth growth, have not been even the richest 1 percent, but the richest one-tenth of 1 percent. This 0.1 percent includes households with incomes over $2.4 million, and wealth starting at $32 million.
They own more wealth than the bottom 80 percent combined. Yet these multi-millionaires and billionaires have seen their taxes decline over the decades, in part because the tax code favors wealth over work.
This richest 0.1 percent receives two-thirds of their income from investments, while most working families have little capital income and depend on wages. But our rigged system taxes most investment income from wealth at a top rate of about 24 percent -- considerably lower than the top 37 percent rate for work.
One way to ensure that the wealthy pay first is to institute a 10 percent surtax on incomes over $2 million. This "multi-millionaire surtax" would raise nearly $600 billion in revenue over 10 years, according to an upcoming study from the Tax Policy Center.
The surtax would apply to income earned from work (wages and salaries) and to investment income gained from wealth, including capital gains and dividends. So those with capital income over $2 million would not get a preferential tax rate.
The multi-millionaire surtax is easy to understand, simple to apply, and effective -- because it covers all kinds of income, making it difficult for the wealthy to avoid.
And it is laser focused on the super-rich. Anyone earning below $2 million a year will not pay a dime.
As a nation, we will need to raise trillions to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and to address urgent priorities such as health care, climate change, child care, higher education, opioid addiction, and more.
The middle class should have 100 percent confidence that they won't be asked to pony up until Wall Street speculators and billionaires pay the piper. A multi-millionaire surtax is a good first step.
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