taxes

Tax the ultra wealthy.

Here is a bar showing the breakdown of the US income tax brackets, up to $200,000,000, roughly the yearly salary for the highest-paid CEO on record.

{horizontal bar with the far end being $200M, and lines differentiating the tax brackets, at . The line fades out on the right}

In 2020, the average household income in our district was $72,000 per year, and paid 22% (12% if you filed jointly with a spouse) of our income to the feds. If you made 10 times that, around $720,000 a year (10%: $0 to $24,800; 12%: $24,801 to $100,800; 22%: $100,801 to $211,400; 24%: $211,401 to $403,550; 32%: $403,551 to $512,450; 35%: $512,451 to $768,700; 37%: Over $768,700, you would get taxed at highest level, 37%.

{2 bars, one above the other, horizontal. Top from $0 to $72K, with a break at ~16K. Bottom, $0 to $720K, with a break at $266,400}

That person who makes $720K a year, and another person who makes $200 million, they are taxed the exact same percent.

{a bar $0 to $200M, a different color representing up to $720K}

Also, 200,000,000 is obviously a lot of money. But this is how much 200,000,000 is compared to Elon Musk's net worth.

{a bar showing the difference between 200,000,000 and whatever Musk's projected net worth is}

We need to make adjustments to the way we tax the folks at the bottom end of the spectrum, and begin to properly tax wealth. Not only do I fully support Bernie Sanders' billionaire tax proposal, I believe we need to create new income tax brackets for the wealthiest tax-payers. I also believe that taxing income is not enough. We must tax hoarded wealth. This is wealth, generated using our dollars, our hands, our minds, our roads, our bridges, our railways, our airways, our internet. This is wealth that would be far better spent raising the floor of our society--housing, healthcare, infrastructure, education, & upkeep--as opposed to attempting to satisfy the fragile ego of a few greedy guys.