Tax the Rich

For the first time in American history, working-class Americans are paying more in taxes than the super rich. Taking money from the poor and giving tax breaks to the rich is class war, and it’s time to fight back. We will make the rich pay their fair share and use that money to fund universal social programs that will benefit all of us. When people ask me, “How are you gonna pay for that?”, these are my answers.

Wealth Tax

No one has ever earned a billion dollars off their own labor. We support Bernie Sanders’ plan to tax fortunes over $32 million at an annual 1% that increases with the size of the net worth. This tax will allow us to fund social programs benefiting us all and ensure that the wealthy, who have been able to use loopholes to dodge taxes for decades, pay their fair share.

Raise Capital Gains Taxes

It is absurd that capital gains, which come entirely from other people’s labor, are taxed at a lower rate than income. We will ensure that the capital gains tax rates are never lower than income tax rates.

70% Tax on Top Marginal Incomes

We support Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s plan to tax incomes over $10 million at 70%. No one needs that much money, and anyone making that much money is making it off the labor of others rather than their own.

Raise the Estate Tax

One of the biggest causes of inequality in our country is allowing billionaires to pass wealth onto their children. We will sharply raise the estate tax for inheritances over a million dollars and use the money to fund education, which will benefit all children, not just the children of the 1%.

Wall Street Transaction Tax

We will add a small tax onto every financial transaction. For regular people who might buy or sell stocks a few times a year, this will cost almost nothing. For Wall Street firms making thousands of trades a day, it will raise enough money to fund social programs such as free college. It will also encourage long-term investment and discourage short-term investments that are more like gambling.

Place Limits on the Net Operating Loss Deduction

Right now, corporations like Amazon are able to pay a 0% effective tax rate on their billions of dollars in profit. One big reason for this policy failure is the Net Operating Loss deduction, which allows corporations to use losses in one year to offset income in other years. It is possible to give new businesses the opportunity to stabilize their earnings before heavily taxing them without giving massively profitable and well-established corporations enormous tax breaks.

Main Street Over Wall Street

Since 1980 Wall Street has taken up a bigger and bigger share of our economy. We have seen larger and larger bonuses for bankers and CEOs and more crisis and instability for working people. Through a combination of transaction taxes, an increase in the short-term capital gains tax, and Elizabeth Warren’s Stop Wall Street Looting Act which will eliminate much of the Private Equity industry, we will curb the excesses of Wall Street. Banks should support Main Street, not take it over.