Once again, we add to my list of Things I Don’t Understand. This time, the Thing I Don't Understand is the concept that there are elected officials who are against the Billionaire’s Tax – though more specifically what I Don’t Understand is why any Democrat in Congress would have a problem with the bill, especially enough to be an issue that blocks the party’s Build Back Better plan that the vast majority of the country supports and which will help their party succeed with voters.
I will go into my bewilderment in more detail in a moment (not to worry, the detail will hopefully by “Fun with Numbers”), but to put it in its simplest form, I can explain my general bewilderment this way – Two things: First, there are only 714 billionaires in the United States. Which work out to about 14 billionaires per state. (Yes, I know that it doesn’t break down that easily, but cut me some slack – I’m trying to make this easy and fun.) So, it’s not like they’re a big voting black. (Yes, they do have a lot of money to donate, but there are still limits on what an individual can give to a candidate. And even if there are ways to get around these legal limits, it’s still limited.) So, again, first thing – there are just 714 billionaires in the country, about 14 per state. And second, most billionaires aren’t in the rarefied billionaire range of $50 billion up to the $271 billion that Elon Musk makes. Most are in the $2-3 billion range. Which means, and let’s have a weird fantasy here, if the Billionaire Tax was “If you are a billionaire, we will take away half your money” – and for those who haven’t read up on the bill, no, of course that’s not in the same galaxy of what the tax is, but let’s pretend – then after having half their assets taken away in taxes…almost every one of the 714 billionaires in American would still be a billionaire! (And any who now weren’t, the tax would stop.) So, y’know, this doesn’t strike me as a big issue to hold up Democracy over. And that’s looking at the Billionaire Tax from the fantasy perspective of the Unimaginably Worst Possible Case Scenario. But as I said, that was the general fantasy look, and I said I’d get a bit more specific with (hopefully fun) details. That said, I’m not going to get specific on the upper reaches of billionaires, since that’s ethereal and any complaints from that vantage point are near-indefensible. What I mean by ethereal is that Elon Musk – perhaps the most-vocal of the critics (despite having benefitted from massive government bailouts that helped build is wealth) is worth, as I said, $271 billion. And most recently, his wealth increased by $41 billion according to Forbes. Wait, sorry, just to be clear, that wasn't “His wealth increased by $41 billion last year,” no, what I meant was – his wealth increased by $41 billion…yesterday!! No, really. So, if the government said, “Hey, Elon, you have to give us all the $41 billion you made yesterday,” he still would have his $271 billion. And could make the same $41 billion back by next week, if things are slow. So, we’ll leave such folks aside. They’re not just fine, they transcend “fine.” But let’s take those billionaires in the lower half of the billionaires list. Let’s just deal with those whose worth is around $2 billion. I can't find the full list of names, but the Forbes 400 ends at around $3 billion. So, $2 billion does seem a reasonable demarcation point for our journey into the Lower Reaches. Here then is how the Billionaire’s Tax works (in simple form, as best as I can cobble together). With the Billionaire’s tax, none of that $2 billion would be taxed. None, as in zero. Put it all aside for a rainy day. The $2 billion is only the red line that denotes who qualifies for the tax. Only the amount that their wealth went up – over the $2 billion they already have -- during the previous year will be taxed. I’ve read different percentages for the tax, it’s not clear (maybe it hasn’t been determined exactly yet). But most say it’s in the range of 30% -- so, for the sake of simplicity, let’s go with that. Okay, now let’s say you’re that $2 Billionaire. And let’s say you had a good year financially this past year, and your wealth went up a strong 10%. That’s an additional $200 million your wealth increased. Well-done, you can buy that island you always wanted. Except first, that pesky Billionaire’s Tax will kick in, and you have to pay 30% on your $200 billion gain. So, that takes out a whopping $60 million you have to pay to the government. At least, though, that leaves you with $140 million more than you had the year before. Now, most people would be able to live incredibly comfortably on that $140 million for the rest of their lives, and their children and grandchildren’s lives, even while giving very generously to charities, and they no doubt would do. I mean, seriously, you have $140 million!! Actually, no, you have a whole lot more, but that’s just what you made this year, after taxes. You still have that $2 billion you haven’t even touched. And that’s just if you’re one of the billionaires on the lower end of the billionaires list. Not one of those with $10 billion. Or $50-100 billion. Or Elon Muskian $271 billion (as of this writing, who knows what it will be when I post this). Now, to be clear, this isn’t exactly how the Billionaire’s Tax will work. But it’s generally sort of close, kind of. Give or take a few billion. The point is, the basic principle is correct. And again, there are only 714 billionaires in the United States. And this Billionaires Tax only affects them. All of whom will still keep all their billions. And analysts say it could bring $200-250 billion each year to the U.S. treasury -- enough to completely pay the approximately $175 billion each year for the Reconciliation Bill benefitting all Americans. That why I said I don’t understand the opposition of any elected official to the Billionaire’s Tax on 741 people paying a minimum tax on their increased wealth, pretty much like all Americans do on their income tax. Yes, yes, I do basically get why Republicans against it – “Because they’re fascists” is the general explanation to anything Republican these days – but even at that, it’s still sort of bewildering, since supporting it would likely be highly approved by voters in their state, other than the 14 billionaires. But why there is even the slightest hesitancy by any Democrat in Congress to support it – enthusiastically – is something I Don’t Understand. Happily, almost all Democrats do support it, enthusiastically. And happily the few holdouts seem to be okay with it in theory, but want to finetune it. But…but…democracy is at stake here, and quibbling over vapor fumes left by 714 people who are doing spectacularly for the rest of their great-grandchilden’s lives and beyond is just…bewildering. It will get done. And very soon. I’m sure. It should have been done long ago. Instantly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|