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Ocasio-Cortez Says 70% Ultra-Rich Tax Could Pay for Climate Plan

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Re: Ocasio-Cortez Says 70% Ultra-Rich Tax Could Pay for Climate Plan

#3
"Ultra-Rich" and "Could" are going to have to be refined as ideas; bearing in mind that a) the proportion of GDP which goes to taxes has not changed in any great measure for a very long time, including since the top marginal tax rates were already that high (though the bracket was... pretty high, and other factors reduced its purpose), and b) the U.S. already has the most progressive income taxes in the developed world as far as I can tell.

I know it's fashionable these days to play on people's resentment for "the rich" (however that is conveniently defined at the time), but this is budgetary advice from somebody who didn't think far enough ahead to budget her first month of rent in DC (or find a roommate), and who once said that the reason unemployment is low is that "everyone is working two jobs".

If you want a progressive policy, this person is not likely to be able to hold that policy's basic premise in her head, let alone any important details. I'm not a progressive, but surely it's easy to see how a Tulsi Gabbard, for example, is actually likely to produce some form of meaningful policy on at least some issues, whereas AOC mostly relies on desperately clawing to relevance through cheap popularity stunts and gaffes.

Re: Ocasio-Cortez Says 70% Ultra-Rich Tax Could Pay for Climate Plan

#6
Agree or disagree, there's a few things this article left unclear.

First, the US has a progressive tax code. So, you wouldn't be taxed 70% on your entire income, only the money over a certain amount. Plus, due to deductions and other loopholes, nobody will actually pay this full amount.

Secondly, this rate isn't a new idea. It was 94% under FDR (democrat) and 91% during the Eisenhower (republican) administration, and both resulted in times of prosperity. And it was 70% as recently as the 80s.

Re: Ocasio-Cortez Says 70% Ultra-Rich Tax Could Pay for Climate Plan

#8
To put this in context, a 70% rate on the top marginal income tax bracket is not unprecedented, or even high by historical standards [1]:

> Sanders said income tax rates under Eisenhower were as high as 90 percent.

> A look through the records shows that top earners in the eight years of Eisenhower’s presidency paid a top income tax rate of 91 percent. It was even a bit higher before he took office.

> We rate Sanders’ statement True.

[1] https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov...

Re: Ocasio-Cortez Says 70% Ultra-Rich Tax Could Pay for Climate Plan

#9
post #4

Get elected. Say something you know will never happen to excite your base. String them along for years. Get elected again. They said she was an outsider but she sure is learning fast.

So she's just not supposed to start talking about ideas?
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