To The Editor:
Politics in this country has reached the point where I would be shocked if any candidate for the US House or Senate showed the courage to support a national-wealth tax of 25 percent on all individuals worth $10 million or more. Here’s what we could do with that revenue:
1. Eliminate the federal budget deficit and the national debt.
2. Pass a Canadian-style national health insurance program to cover all Americans.
3. Turn student loans into scholarships.
4. Make Social Security fully solvent beyond the current date of 2034.
5. Supplement the unequal pay for equal work that women do in this country to bring it up to what men get paid.
6. Help working families pay day-care expenses for their children and elderly family members.
7. Guarantee jobs to all Americans that will pay enough to lift them above the official poverty line and the official “near-poverty” line.
And, there would still be money left over!
This is how much wealth that there is in this country. Eighty percent of all of the wealth in the USA was never earned by those who hold it- it was inherited. It grows and grows into tens of millions, hundreds of millions, and on into the billions.
No one could possibly ever need that much money. Yet, I can’t find one Democrat in either house of Congress who supports a national wealth tax.
Someone should write a book about the national Democrats and call it “Profiles in Cowardice.”
They’re supposed to care about the people more than they care about raising millions of dollars so that they can win re-election.
Sincerely,
Stewart B. Epstein
2266 Westside Drive
Rochester, New York 14624
585-594-0610
phenom51@mail.com
One thing that’s happened in the last thirty years is that economies have become globalized. We don’t have as much control over our national economy as we used to. Back in the 60’s Kennedy could cut taxes and see an increase in revenues as the money in private hands stimulated the economy. Now such a tax cut would stimulate economies around the world and not so much here. Similarly, such a tax could cause massive capital flight, as wealthy seek tax havens.
Moreover, in the US this could be unconstitutional (it depends on the interpretation of Article 1). Countries that have a wealth tax usually have it rather small – nothing like 25%. A number of European countries have a wealth tax of under 1%. States here can impose property taxes, which are a form of wealth tax.
But in 1999 one American proposed a wealth tax of 14.5% on any wealth over $10 million, claiming it would raise nearly 6 trillion dollars in revenue. That radical proposal came from a man named Donald Trump.
Not even going to go into why your numbers are severely flawed, That number 5 on your list is a complete fabrication and myth, or that number 7 on your list is a BS slogan with no substance or explanation.
I wont even go into how disturbing it is that you spread this type “class warfare” or promote Communism/socialism (on multiple small publications) in a place that you only get to do so by having the unalienable first amendment right.
I will say I’m not in that class with 10 million dollars or more, However the fact that you would look to use force in the process of Taking a quarter of someones property is outright theft No matter what you use that property for. So first you threaten/coerce/force people to give up 25% of their property and along with that make no incentive for people to ever acquire enough property that would allow you to confiscate a quarter of it which would bring an end to your scheme, unless you started taking more from others.
If I refuse to give you a quarter of my property you would, lock me in a cage or kill me…This is the bright sunny side of socialism, Their slogan should be
“Bringing you death by government for over 200 years!” With a rainbow and smiley face..lol
You think of the economy as a pie- and believe your only shot of getting some is taking part of someones slice Instead of figuring out how to get the ingredients yourself and make more pie yourself. (which happens every day)
Maybe (I say maybe because your numbers are suspect) it was given to them, BUT It certainly wasn’t earned by yourself nor those others who would use force to steal it.
Its not about NEED, You don’t NEED a car, lawn mower, computer, TV or a house..etc.
Sure they are, Republicans/Democrats it doesn’t matter…Look back at your own writing and figure out why WE our unborn kids and their unborn kids along with the illegal aliens they make legal are counted on as commodity’s.
The federal government has become a pyramid scheme, Instead of wanting to end that you want to rook more players into the game.
Not really much to add above Scott and Pure.
The very first thing that came to my mind was why Mr. Epstein chose to submit this to TDB.
A Canadian health care system, just what we need. For all the Canadians who come to this country to have medical procedures done because they can’t wait up in Canada ro be scheduled in…you tell them how good they have it!
STEWART B. EPSTEIN writes, “Eighty percent of all of the wealth in the nation was never earned by those who hold it — it was inherited.” Why didn’t the editors ask for confirmation of this obviously false claim?
About 70 percent of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation, and a stunning 90% by the third.
http://time.com/money/39253…
At any given point, as much as 65 percent of the wealth in this country is self-earned, not inherited.
http://www.nber.org/papers/…
Even among Forbes 400 members, the richest 400 people in America, 70 percent are entirely “self-made.”
https://www.cnbc.com/id/491…
That doesn’t even cover the ‘big lie’. That a “national wealth tax of 25 percent on all individuals “worth $10 million or more” would:
■ Eliminate the federal budget deficit and the national debt.
■ Pass a Canadian-style national health insurance program to cover all Americans.
■ Turn student loans into scholarships.
■ Make Social Security fully solvent beyond the current date of 2034.
■ Supplement the unequal pay for equal work that women do in this country to bring it up to what men get paid.
■ Help working families pay day care expenses for their children and elderly family members.
■ Guarantee jobs to all Americans that will pay enough to lift them
above the official poverty line and the official “near-poverty” line.
There still would be money left over.
There is an estimated $63.5 trillion dollars of “wealth” in America.
http://fortune.com/2015/09/…
The top 1% hold 38.6% of all privately held wealth in America.
http://money.cnn.com/2017/0…
Those worth “$10 million or more”, essentially, are the top 1%.
https://dqydj.com/how-many-…
If you take 38.6 % of $63.5 trillion, you get $24.5 trillion. If you tax $24.5 trillion at 25% you get $6.12 trillion. That won’t even pay down 30% of the national debt, let alone pay for health care, college scholarships or any of the other utopian socialistic things that Epstein claims.
Those are the facts, not that they matter to tax and spend liberals/socialists.
Hey Stewart, What part of other people’s money are you entitled to? Who cares who makes what or who’s worth what. So Donald J. Trump is rich and president, so he inherited some of his money, he didn’t inherit all of it. And unless you are Fred Trump’s son, you are not entitled to any of his money either. We are not a socialist or communist country where you take the money and possessions of rich people and redistribute the wealth to other people. We live in a country, where if you study hard, work hard, you will be rewarded. You don’t just get to be rewarded, simply because you think you should be, because you are not happy with your station in life.
Keith,
Can you please re-post all of your links? The web addresses all got cut off too early. I’d love to read those articles. Thank you.
Hrtlss Bstrd: Your allusion to Trump would have worked better if he hadn’t proposed something similar back in 1999! It was the cornerstone of his economic policy suggestions, claims the article:
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/09/trump.rich/index.html
Stewart,
Your entire article is nothing but a pile of smelly dog dudu, but I’d like to answer your question as to why
no Dem congress person will support a bill to tax the heck outta those rich folks. The same reason no
Repub congress person will support a bill like that. They are all in congress to line their own pockets!!!
Every last one of them…..Democrat or Republican or Independent…..they are all there for the money and
power and prestige. They couldn’t care less about what is right for the country. Look at how little they
actually do. Look at how they fuss and fight and argue about every nit-noid issue and never work together
to fix the many problems we have. The BEST thing the voters could do next election is throw them All out.
Let’s get a whole new batch of congress folks in there and start over. Maybe that will help. Just my humble
opinion.
He got most of it from stiffing workers,vendors and being a serial bankrupt and leaving everyone ELSE with his debt. If you rver decide to work,H.B., go to work for him. He had to go to OTHER countries to borrow money,(Russia) cause no one here would lend it to him. His profoundly crooked son in laqw has to do the same. Stop worshipping people who wouldn’t cross the street to give you water if you were on fire. And use your real name. As a man does. It’s not your heart you’re missing;it’s a bit lower.
Scott Erb, I just needed a rich person who inherited some money that everybody knows. And you cited CNN, not the most credible media outlets to quote.
CNN has a good reputation for accuracy – and in this case it’s not controversial, you can find Trump’s plan reported all over back in 1999. I wasn’t using it to discredit your argument or to say anything against you, I just had to point out that President Trump at one point made the same kind of proposal. I remember it – it was when he was thinking of running on the Reform Party ticket back before the 2000 election. As soon as I read that letter to the editor it brought back the discussions I had with people back in 1999 when he made that proposal (which I disagreed with – on this issue we both are skeptical of a wealth tax).
I thought the Daily Bulldog was a local thing. Why is it posting editorials from someone in NY?
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus devised a kind of wealth tax. He asked super-rich senators to re-write their wills leaving him 75% or thereabouts and then invite them to commit suicide pretty quick. They could leave the rest to their chosen heirs. Couldn’t we do something like this today? It could produce a bigger windfall than Stewart’s paltry proposal.
…fundamental transformation…
Yes, right there with FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS…Bastions of truth and democracy. Look up Sinclair broadcasting script, and realize a couple of things- they all have an angle, an agenda and they all use the same tactics. They create a “Deluded yet Informed (by today’s standards)” citizenry.
THEM: “97% of climate scientists agree!”
DAILY VIEWER: “Well that should tell you who is on the right side!”
ME: “How many climate scientists did we ask, and how many are there?” Because, 97% of 100 polled out of 400 and 97% of 100 polled out of 1 million are vastly different.
You can substitute climate scientists for whatever you like, its not an outright lie but they skewer stats and information to their viewership. I understand supporting a story and explaining why you believe it (such as you did here, that you saw it for yourself) But to make a blanket statement such as “CNN has a good reputation for accuracy” Is something else entirely.
“That is like, well just your opinion man”
I don’t like Trump, Not more or less than Obama, and him no more or less than Bush and so on and so forth…
You show such tolerance from that side of the fence huh…If you were willing to talk the same way of the Clintoons or Obama, your advice might carry some weight. Some saying about pots and kettles comes to mind.
That second part…I seriously doubt you would say that to another mans face and I might add that I believe the only reason you are willing to use your name (if its really your name) is because your so entrenched with the herd.
He’s from New York. Why do we care what he says?
Normally I would agree that it does not matter who’s in power. The difference with our current president, is everything is under a microscope. With the lame stream media, the Dems and the FBI fishing for anything they can spin as a negative the White House has no choice but to be transparent. I’m all for the scrutiny but I fear it would not be the same with another Democrat in office. Anybody who voted for Trump needs to get out and vote to continue his agenda. Vote out the Dems in 2018. I notice new Dems using conservative talking points to get votes, but I don’t believe them.
BTW I’m an independent. I tend to agree with one of the earlier points that all the politicians are more concerned with self preservation. Swamp Creatures!
Abolish the 2 Parties!
Mr. Erb….. when you have time… get off the ‘ hate Trump wagon’ and tell us about the Clintons… cattle futures, the Foundation etc….. and how they went from being broke when they practically had to hitchhike away from the White House to where they are now….
Congrats Glen, you found a way to silence Mr. Erb!