John,
While the federal government remains shut down, denying paychecks to workers, freezing public services, and threatening air safety, America’s 916 billionaires now control more than $8 trillion in collective wealth.[1] This historic high is not an accident. It’s the direct result of a tax system rewritten to serve the ultra-rich.
In the wake of the 2017 Trump-GOP tax law, billionaire fortunes have exploded, up $5 trillion since the law’s passage. This has nothing to do with economic growth. It’s economic concentration, fueled by deliberate policy. In fact, the 15 richest Americans now hold more wealth than every billionaire in the country did when that law was signed.
Congressional Republicans didn’t stop there. They made Trump’s tax cuts for the rich permanent this summer and offset the cost with cuts to healthcare and nutrition.[2] Now, they’re using the shutdown to try and kill the ACA premium tax credits, stripping affordable healthcare from millions. Public agencies are starved of resources. Federal workers are furloughed, fired, or working without pay. Services like Social Security assistance and aviation safety are grinding to a halt. The only thing that hasn’t stalled is billionaire wealth accumulation.
Let’s call this out for what it is: a rigged system, built to protect extreme wealth while sabotaging the public good. We’re publishing the hard numbers on billionaire wealth and pairing it with airtight analysis on how tax law, budget decisions, and enforcement failures have allowed the richest Americans to extract trillions from our economy while avoiding paying their fair share in taxes. And we’re using that research to build political pressure for bold tax reform to hold billionaires accountable.
Donate now to power our in-depth research and nationwide campaigns that expose billionaire greed, drive the public debate, and demand that the ultra-rich finally pay their fair share.
We’ve exposed the link between billionaire wealth gains and the 2017 tax law. We’ve documented how the IRS, gutted by budget cuts and political interference, fails to pursue ultra-wealthy tax cheats. And we’re pushing for the Billionaires Income Tax, legislation that would affect fewer than 1,000 households while raising an estimated $557 billion over the next ten years.[3]
Our work together is a direct challenge to the political machine that prioritizes billionaire tax breaks over public investment. When Republicans shut down the government and billionaires still come out ahead, it’s proof that tax policy is being used as a weapon against working people. Already, since Trump was sworn in for his second term, billionaires' combined wealth has grown by $1.2 trillion.
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund is more than a think tank churning out white papers. We are building a national movement to take on the most powerful interests in this country, and that requires resources. Your support helps us hold lawmakers accountable, flood the media with facts, equip grassroots organizers, and wage campaigns that translate outrage into action.
Every dollar you give fights back against a system that hands billionaires tax cuts and leaves the rest of us with a broken government. So please make a donation today as we expose the data, confront the power, and demand a tax system that works for the many, not just the wealthy few.
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Thank you for demanding a tax system that serves the people and stops billionaire greed from bankrupting our future.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Billionaire Wealth Tops $8 Trillion Amid Federal Shutdown
[2] Republican Megabill’s Tax Cuts for Millionaires Are Financed by Taking Health Insurance From 4.7 Million People
[3] Wyden Statement on Billionaires Income Tax Score
