Bernie Sanders Proposes Taxing Income Over $1 Billion At 100% And Urges It’s Time To Make ‘Greedy Billionaires’ Pay Their Fair Share

Bernie Sanders is Challenge the richest Americans With his call for a 100% tax on income exceeding $1 billion. In a May 2023 interview on HBO’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, Sanders made his position clear: “You may disagree with me, but I think people can make it with $999 million. I think they can survive just fine.”

According to a Fortune article, Wallace asked: “Are you basically saying that once you get $999 million, the government should confiscate all the rest?” Sanders responded with a straightforward “yes.”

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This reflects him The belief that the super-rich It should not exist in a society with such extreme economic inequality. On his official Facebook page in September 2024, Sanders doubled down, saying: “Today we live in a nation with greater income and wealth inequality than at any time in the history of the United States.” He painted a stark picture of the division, explaining that while the billionaire class “Doing a very good job60% of Americans “live paycheck to paycheck.”

Sanders also addressed critics of his approach, saying: “What I think is that we have to get over the greed of the billionaire class and say, yeah, you know what, guys… you’re going to start Pay your fair share of taxes.”

His plan not only targets the income of billionaires, but also includes a progressive wealth tax on families whose value exceeds $32 million, starting at 1% and rising to 8% for billionaires. He also proposed an exit tax of 40% to 60% on assets for those who give up US citizenship to avoid taxes.

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Critics say Sanders’ wealth tax proposal could be counterproductive, especially when it comes to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. “At a time when new entrepreneurship should be fostered, a wealth tax would do the opposite,” warns the National Taxpayers Federation Foundation. Their concern is that such taxes would discourage business growth and innovation, as founders could face hefty tax bills simply for owning successful companies.

For example, a business owner who owns a $100 million company would owe $1.2 million annually under Sanders’ plan, forcing him to sell part of his stake just to pay the tax. Over time, this may discourage the creation of transformative companies like Tesla or Apple. Critics fear that these measures will ultimately stifle the kind of risk-taking that drives economic growth.

A report by TaxFoundation.org also warned that wealth taxes could lead to capital flight, pointing to countries such as France and Germany that have abandoned similar policies after they proved ineffective.

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The results have been messy even in countries that still impose wealth taxes, such as Spain and Norway. Spain, for example, has seen marginal tax rates rise to more than 100% in some cases, discouraging investment and harming wealth generation across all income levels.

Despite the decline, Sanders is standing firm. In his speech at the Democratic National Convention in August, Sanders said: “Brothers and sisters, the bottom line is, we need an economy that works for all of us… not just the billionaire class.”

Whether you agree with him or not, his proposal poses a crucial question: Is it time to rethink? How is wealth distributed in America?? Or do the unintended consequences of such extremist ideas outweigh their potential benefits?

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