*A US Tax On Wealth Is Long Overdue:* Thomas Piketty

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- 'A US Tax on Wealth Is Long Overdue.'- Between 1930 and 1980, the rate applied on the highest incomes was on average 81%, and the rate applied to the highest inherited estates was 74%. Clearly this did not destroy American capitalism." By Thomas Piketty, Common Dreams/Boston Globe, Feb. 12, 2019. Excerpts:

What if the final blow for French President Emmanuel Macron came not from the yellow vests but from US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts? Warren, who announced her candidacy for president on Saturday, has proposed what will doubtless be one of the key points of her campaign- the creation of a genuine federal progressive wealth tax.
The Warren proposal sets a rate of 2 percent on fortunes valued between $50 million and $1 billion, and 3 percent above $1 billion. The proposed schedule could still be extended and made more progressive- with rates rising, for example, to 5 to 10 percent per annum for multibillionaires.

What is certain is that the issue of fiscal justice will be central to the presidential campaign. US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has suggested a rate of 70 percent on the highest incomes, while Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont defends a tax rate of 77 percent on the highest inherited estates. While the Warren proposal is the most innovative, the three approaches are complementary and should be mutually beneficial.

To understand this, let’s look back. Between 1880 and 1910, while the concentration of industrial and financial wealth was gaining momentum in the United States and the country was threatening to become almost as unequal as old Europe, a powerful political movement in favor of an improved distribution in wealth was developing. This led to the creation of a federal tax on income in 1913 and on inheritances in 1916.

Between 1930 and 1980, the rate applied on the highest incomes was on average 81 percent, and the rate applied to the highest inherited estates was 74 percent. Clearly this did not destroy American capitalism. Far from it. It made it more egalitarian and more productive, at a time when the United States had not forgotten that educational advancement and investment in training and skills-not the religion of property and inequality- were the backbone of prosperity.
Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump subsequently endeavored to destroy this heritage.
They turned their backs on the egalitarian origins of the country by counting on historical amnesia and by fueling identity-based divisions.
With the hindsight we have today, it is obvious that the outcome of this policy was disastrous...

Read More, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/02/12/us-tax-wealth-long-overdue

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1. Maybe we'll get some traction on this for once and it'll get something done for some...

thing is needed when the trends are so clear that middle class wealth and income is not keeping up and more and more of the nations' output and income is going to the top tier.

And don't call us socialist or whatever, it's ridiculous, especially in view of the fact that increases in the minimum wage has been constantly resisted and fought against, but prices seem to keep going up because of some nefarious and non-rational reasons.

All we want is at least decent wages. At least have the ability to pull one's self up and above the water and try and have a decent life. This should be apparent to anyone with a rational mind but apparently not (or they are deliberately ignoring the issue and sidestepping it to mouth off some unrelated rationale 'oh, it'll hurt business etc.').

When will these people ever have enough (the obscenely wealthy)?

Perhaps those fighting such efforts don't realize that in order to continue to sell stuff at an ever increasing price in this predatory, capitalistic environment, folks actually need money to do so (all while paying our normal everyday bills such as the mortgage, the car(s), the utility bills, etc.).

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2. Elizabeth Warren's Tax Proposal Is Even Popular With Republicans:

"Elizabeth Warren’s Tax Proposal Is Popular Even With Republicans." “Taxing the wealthy” polls pretty well, new surveys find. Huff Post, Feb. 4, 2019.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) proposal for a “wealth tax” on Americans worth more than $50 million currently has significant support across party lines, new polling suggests. The exact level of support varies from survey to survey. But in three recently released online polls, support for Warren’s plan ranges between 50 and 61 percent, with opposition languishing between 20 and 23 percent.

•In a new Politico/Morning Consult survey, 61 percent of voters favored “a recent proposal to levy a new, 2 percent annual tax on all assets owned by households with a net worth of $50 million or more, and an additional 1 percent tax on households with a net worth of more than $1 billion.” Just 20 percent were opposed, with the rest unsure.
Democratic voters supported the plan by 74 percent to 11 percent, while Republican voters backed it by 50 percent to 30 percent. (The bipartisan support is particularly notable given that, earlier in the survey, the proposal was explicitly identified as Warren’s.). More, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/elizabeth-warren-tax-proposal-is-even-popular-democrats-republicans_us_5c586722e4b09293b206d8bb