Democratic Primaries

bluewater

(5,376 posts) Wed Oct 16, 2019, 11:45 AM Oct 2019

Wealth tax splits Sanders and Warren from the rest of the Democrats

The Democratic presidential candidates split Tuesday night over proposals to impose hefty wealth taxes on the richest Americans, exposing an economic policy divide in the party over the need to close the gap between the super-rich and everyone else.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) defended their proposals to heavily tax the assets held by the wealthiest Americans to create a number of new government programs, as their more centrist opponents either dodged the question or pushed back against the idea.

The intraparty feud comes amid the rapid growth of inequality in the United States, with the 400 richest Americans — representing only 0.00025 percent of the population — tripling their share of the national wealth since the early 1980s. These richest 400 Americans now own as much wealth as the bottom 60 percent.

Warren and Sanders have called for attacking that growth in inequality with a tax on the accumulated assets of the wealthy, while the other presidential candidates have proposed more modest measures such as increasing taxes on the capital income of investors.

The wealth tax proposals would represent a sweeping transformation of how taxes are assessed in America, pivoting away from more traditional Democratic tax plans that target new sources of income.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/wealth-tax-splits-sanders-and-warren-from-the-rest-of-the-democrats/2019/10/16/5e81e388-efa6-11e9-8693-f487e46784aa_story.html

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

8 replies

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Wealth tax splits Sanders and Warren from the rest of the Democrats (Original Post) bluewater Oct 2019 OP

And this is why together they have overwhelming support... polichick Oct 2019 #1

Nice aspiration. Dem voters need to decide, on several issues, whether empedocles Oct 2019 #2

In last night's debate, Andrew Yang mentioned other european countries had tried a wealth tax dlk Oct 2019 #3

Ameria has a credit problem we can do with a little slowing when it comes to the spending SterlingPound Oct 2019 #4

The point is a VAT is regressive and doesn't adequately address the issue dlk Oct 2019 #5

but that is why she does have different ways like a wealth tax to readdress the issues. SterlingPound Oct 2019 #7

Exactly dlk Oct 2019 #8

When I was doing tx returns in 1980 in Ohio there was a personal property tax. I can't remember if wasupaloopa Oct 2019 #6

polichick

(37,152 posts)

1. And this is why together they have overwhelming support...

Reply to bluewater (Original post)

Wed Oct 16, 2019, 11:49 AM

Oct 2019

They get what happened to the middle class, and have the guts to speak the truth about it.

The U.S. needs a paradigm shift - not a bit of tweaking that won’t disturb the status quo.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

empedocles

(15,751 posts)

2. Nice aspiration. Dem voters need to decide, on several issues, whether

Reply to bluewater (Original post)

Wed Oct 16, 2019, 11:53 AM

Oct 2019

they want to win in November 2020.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

dlk

(11,572 posts)

3. In last night's debate, Andrew Yang mentioned other european countries had tried a wealth tax

Reply to bluewater (Original post)

Wed Oct 16, 2019, 11:55 AM

Oct 2019

Last edited Wed Oct 16, 2019, 07:32 PM - Edit history (1)

and had difficulty collecting it, so abandoned it and went to a VAT (value-added tax). The downside of a VAT is that is depresses spending and is regressive. I have every confidence that the IRS, given sufficient resources, can get the job done.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

SterlingPound

(428 posts)

4. Ameria has a credit problem we can do with a little slowing when it comes to the spending

Reply to dlk (Reply #3)

Wed Oct 16, 2019, 12:10 PM

Oct 2019

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided

dlk

(11,572 posts)

5. The point is a VAT is regressive and doesn't adequately address the issue

Reply to SterlingPound (Reply #4)

Wed Oct 16, 2019, 12:31 PM

Oct 2019

Granted, impulse buying is a large driver of the US economy. However, adding more to the tax burden of the middle class and poor, while not significantly more to the tax burden of the wealthiest, is not what Warren and Sanders are looking to do.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden