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John,
As most Americans are tightening the purse strings and feeling the daily pain of record high inflation―basically a tax on the poor and middle class―billionaires are both watching their riches increase and paying far too little in taxes.
In the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic while more than 1,000,000 Americans were dying, the country’s billionaires grew their wealth (and their political power) by $2.1 trillion dollars―that’s 70%!1
Due to racial and economic inequities built into the U.S. Tax Code, income is taxed at a much higher rate than wealth. So, billionaires often pay a significantly lower tax rate than teachers, nurses, or firefighters.
Money they’re not paying in taxes is being used to drown out the voices and needs of millions of working class Americans and exert undue influence over our elections and political process. In the 2020 election, billionaires spent $1.2 billion trying to influence our elections and democracy. And they're still at it.
Sign the petition and demand billionaires pay taxes each year on their wealth gains, just like working people pay on our income. Tell Congress it’s time for billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes and limit their influence on our elections.
With this upcoming midterm election in November, billionaire Peter Thiel―co-founder of PayPal―has already spent almost $30 million dollars through Super PACS supporting extremist candidates who are anti-immigrant, anti-voting rights, and for cutting our hard-earned Social Security benefits. Fellow billionaire, Wall Street trader Jeffery Yass, has spent $28.5 million this election cycle to help candidates who believe the 2020 election was rigged and who hold extreme views on issues such as immigration. And for a new record, electronics manufacturer Barre Seid last year donated $1.6 billion to a right-wing political organization through transactions that, according to The New York Times, “appear to have avoided tax liabilities.”
Billionaires should not have a larger say in our political process than the rest of us. The way to rein in this massive flow of ideological wealth in our elections is to tax billionaires on their wealth gains.
The Billionaire Income Tax Act has been introduced in Congress and, if passed, would make the richest 0.01% pay taxes every year on their wealth gains. The tax would raise at least $360 billion over 10 years from America’s wealthiest 20,000 households. That’s money that can be used to invest in expanding health care access, the expanded Child Tax Credit, child care, pre-K and public education, food programs, and much more.
Sign the petition and demand Congress tax billionaire wealth every year, just like income from work, and rein in billionaire political influence.
It’s critical that more members of Congress come out and support this legislation to fight income inequality and to save our democracy.
Thank you for all you do,
Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs
1 U.S. Billionaire Wealth Surged by 70 Percent, or $2.1 Trillion, During Pandemic. - Institute for Policy Studies
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