PS: A final note on tax day

I just sent in my 2021 taxes. I did it gladly. It’s a responsibility of participating in this society. But I’ve got to tell you, as I watched the dollars flow out of my account, I couldn’t help but remember that the richest and second-richest people in America — Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos — pay a far lower tax rate than I do. In fact, some years they don’t pay any taxes at all.

Elon Musk alone has more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans. That’s 131 million people combined. In the minute it will take you to read this post, Jeff Bezos will have added about $30,000 to his wealth.

But virtually none of their wealth growth — the main source of billionaire income — may ever be taxed. That’s because the income tax doesn’t cover billionaire wealth: Bezos’s salary is just $81,840. Musk’s is $0. Their vast wealth allows them to borrow money at bargain-basement rates to cover their lavish lifestyles, and escape taxes on almost all their gains. In many years, they’ve both avoided paying any federal income tax at all. So while millions of Americans have lost their jobs during the pandemic, billionaires like Bezos and Musk got 70% richer.

None of us should accept an economy where teachers, nurses, and firefighters pay a higher tax rate than billionaires. If we want billionaires to pay what they owe, we’ve got to tax their wealth -- not just their income. The Billionaires Income Tax would end an unfair tax code that rewards wealth over work. Congress can make billionaires pay their fair share.

President Biden’s new budget proposes a fix for this broken system. The Billionaire Minimum Income Tax would establish a 20 percent minimum tax rate on all American households worth more than $100 million. It would raise $360 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. Senator Ron Wyden (with whom I appeared yesterday morning on a webinar sponsored by Americans for Tax Justice) has a similar plan that raises even more.

When billionaires don’t pay their fair share, they starve the government of funding that could go toward mental health, child care, education, people with disabilities, and other social programs. They defund schools, Medicare, and national security. They contribute to the cynicism so many Americans feel about our system — and how it’s rigged for the benefit of people like Bezos and Musk. And of course, they increase inequality.

I may be old-fashioned, but I believe that billionaires should give back to the society that made them successful. I refuse to accept an economy where school teachers pay a higher tax rate than billionaire investors.

Please join me in calling on Congress to pass the Billionaires Income Tax. In the fight against income inequality, the Billionaires Income Tax is a good place to start.