The Only Billionaire In Iowa Thinks Elizabeth Warren Makes Some Sense

It was announced Wednesday, via the annual Forbes 400 list, that seed giant Harry Stine's net worth is $5 billion, an increase of $1.8 billion since the 2018 list. The new figure places Stine, the only Iowan on the list, at 131, up from 179 last year.

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The Only Billionaire In Iowa Thinks Elizabeth Warren Makes Some Sense

... Stine, 77, is different than any billionaire (or even multimillionaire) I’ve interviewed before. To begin with, he picks up his own phone. “Good afternoon, this is Harry,” he said when I called.

And unlike any Iowan I’ve spoken to this cycle, he hasn’t yet made up his mind about whether he’d support a wealth tax. “It’s a good question,” he said. “I have mixed feelings about it.” Rarer still, he offers a thoughtful critique of both sides of the argument...

While a billionaire’s tax would hardly cripple his fortune, Stine says, neither does he think it would serve a productive purpose—at least not for him or Stine Seed. He says ratcheting up taxes on his personal wealth will leave less for him to plow into the company for research.

On the other hand, Stine supports progressive taxation and sees merit in the efforts of Warren and others to prevent the emergence of a financial overclass...

He’s no fan of Trump. “Technically, I’m a registered Republican, but probably they’ve gone off the deep end the last few years a little more than I can accept,” he said. “Frankly, we are not pleased with Trump’s personality.”

Stine doesn’t sound much like a Warren supporter, but he noted that there’s “a whole basket full of folks coming on the Democratic side,” and insisted he hasn’t made up his mind about which one he’ll ultimately support. “I’m not really active in politics,” he said.

In the meantime, he’ll give more thought to the wealth tax and hopes Democrats will, too. If he had his druthers, they’d rework their proposals to avoid hurting productive enterprise. But whatever the outcome, he’ll be okay with it. “Our deal,” he said, “is tell us what the rules are and we’ll play by them.”

[link:https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-15/the-only-billionaire-in-iowa-thinks-elizabeth-warren-makes-some-sense|