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You just filed your taxes and you paid a higher share of federal income taxes than Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, or Warren Buffett.
Not because you’re wealthy but because the tax code was written by people who answer to them, not you. According to the tax code, the wealthiest people can claim their wealth growth is not income.
That’s how Bezos claimed the child tax credit in 2011, despite being worth $18 billion at the time. Yet no Republicans decried this abuse. Their ire was reserved for a single mom who used SNAP benefits to buy a birthday cake [ [link removed] ] for her 8-year-old.
Between 2014 and 2018, the 25 wealthiest Americans watched their wealth grow by $401 billion but paid a federal income tax rate of 3.4%. The median American household earned around $70,000 annually and paid 14% in federal taxes. This is only legal because the wealthiest people had a hand in making the laws. Make no mistake - legality does not mean morality.
A RAND study finds that if we’d kept the 1975 income distribution, the bottom 90% of workers would have earned an additional $3.9 trillion in 2023 alone — a $32,000 raise per full-time worker for a single year.
Fighting for tax fairness in Virginia’s 1st District takes resources. A $10 donation goes directly to field organizing. No corporate PACs. No AIPAC. Every one of the 2,000+ contributions we have received comes from caring people like you.
A fair fix exists
Critics argue that billionaires don’t have income the way working people do which is why they pay a lower share of federal income tax. The ultra-wealthy gain control of wealth in ways most will never experience, and leverage that wealth to fund their lifestyle. So, the fair play here is taxing their wealth.
Critics argue we should give billionaires tax breaks because they create jobs. But “trickle-down” economics has been disproven by economists and anyone who’s been watching their rent for the last decade. The wealthiest people have amassed trillions as money has flowed upward from the majority of Americans to a small group that now owns more wealth than the entire bottom half of the country.
Patriotic Millionaires [ [link removed] ] — an organization composed of wealthy Americans — proposes exactly that. The Equal Tax Act would require those earning more than $1 million in investment income to pay the same tax rate as people who work for a paycheck.
This is a step in the right direction. We’re also seeing creative methods to insure that working families continue to not see increases to their taxes. For example, Massachusetts implemented a tax [ [link removed] ]for people earning over $1 million, which brought in $5.7 billion for the state. NY recently adopted a tax [ [link removed] ] for the wealthy who own homes in NYC but don’t live in them, which is estimated to bring in $500 million.
The Big Ugly Bill made it worse
The robber barons of our time received a $1 trillion tax cut in 2025, when representatives like Rob Wittman passed the Big Ugly Bill. That cut was funded by slashing Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP.
Millions of people will lose health care and food assistance so Bezos and Musk can get another yacht.
Rob Wittman voted for this and secured a tax payout for himself. I fought for you and against the Bill. Help us continue building a grassroots campaign that will win.
There are many proposed solutions to these problems, none more urgent than making billionaires pay their fair share. We need a Congress bold enough to stand up to them and prioritize neighbors who keep getting pushed to the back.
It’s time our representatives upheld their constitutional duty to provide for the general welfare. The August primary gives Virginians a chance to vote for a candidate who answers only to them - not a donor class that funds both sides.
Sincerely,
Salaam
PS: The primary is August 4, 2026. Early voting starts June 18. The time to help is now. Become a donor [ [link removed] ].
Dad joke of the day: There was a Spanish magician. He said he’ll disappear on the count of three. He said, “Uno, dos…” and poof he disappeared without a tres.
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