John,

We are in the middle of an extraordinary moment in our history: a public health crisis; the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression; daily protests against police violence against Black people; major funding gaps for education, healthcare, housing and nutrition; and a president who seeks to divide us while exacerbating rising levels of income and wealth inequality.

Throughout all of this, while tens of millions of Americans are now facing economic desperation, 467 billionaires in this country have seen their wealth go up by over $730 billion since the pandemic began―that’s $5.2 billion each day―according to an Americans for Tax Fairness report![1]

This is what a rigged economy looks like. And we must fight back.

Now, Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ilhan Omar have introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Act to tax the obscene wealth gains of billionaires made during this public health crisis.[2]

Join Americans for Tax Fairness and our national allies by becoming a grassroots co-sponsor of the Make Billionaires Pay Act today.

Americans for Tax Fairness’ research was critical in assisting Senator Sanders and Representative Omar in introducing this bill in the Senate and House. Together, we’re working with our champions in Congress to demand that billionaires pay their fair share in taxes, and when they do, we can use that money to cover out-of-pocket health care costs for all Americans during the next year.

At a time of such massive levels of wealth and income inequality—when so many working people are hurting—it is unconscionable that billionaires are making outrageous profits during a global pandemic.

Join us! Become a grassroots co-sponsor of the Make Billionaires Pay Act—legislation to tax the wealth that billionaires have gained during this crisis and provide health care for all for a year.

Here are just a few examples of the incredible levels of inequality that are taking place during this horrific pandemic:

As Amazon denies its workers hazard pay, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos has seen his wealth grow by over $70 billion.[3]

While Walmart rakes in record profits, the Walton family has made over $20 billion during the pandemic and now has a net worth of over $200 billion.

With millions of Americans facing eviction, Elon Musk has nearly tripled his wealth over the past four months, for a total net worth of more than $70 billion.

While millions of Americans are going hungry, lining up at emergency food banks, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has increased his wealth by more than $37 billion during the pandemic and is now worth over $92 billion.

Right now, if we taxed 60% of the gains made by just 467 billionaires from March 18 until August 5, we could raise over $420 billion. With that revenue, we could allow Medicare to pay all of the out-of-pocket health care expenses for everyone in the country for the next 12 months.

And those billionaires would still be able to pocket more than $310 billion in wealth gains during the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression.

Join Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ilhan Omar and become a grassroots co-sponsor of the Make Billionaires Pay Act today—to tax the obscene wealth gains of billionaires in the midst of the pandemic and provide health care for all for a year.

Thank you for joining with Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund and our champions in Congress to demand a fair share tax system that invests in critical services for working people.

Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund

[1] “Sen. Sanders’ Bill Would Tax Billionaires’ Pandemic Wealth Gains to Fund Healthcare,” Americans for Tax Fairness, Aug. 6, 2020

[2] “Sanders, Colleagues Introduce Tax on Billionaire Wealth Gains to Provide Health Care for All,” Sen. Bernie Sanders press release, Aug. 6, 2020

[3]“Hazard pay ends soon at Amazon and other major companies,” Marketplace, May 14, 2020