So far, most of the Democrats have promised just that if elected, with Sanders and Warren supporting game-changing tax plans that would shift significant wealth to benefit the poor and middle class. No word from Trump.
"Tax the Rich" is no longer just a political slogan, it's a national necessity and a moral imperative. And, at long last, it's actually within our reach. The bulk of billionaires and their right-wing political networks will fight furiously against even the idea that our society should strive for tax fairness. Indeed, their hubris is so extreme that they're already clamoring for Trump and GOP senators to hand them some $200 billion more in tax cuts this year. But, as columnist Paul Krugman has observed, "they do so more or less in secret, presumably because they realize just how unpopular their position really is."
More insidious are the out-of-touch establishment pundits and milquetoast Democrats who are aloof from the growing public anger at the raw unfairness of today's system. They blandly propose small and slow baby steps, policies that would close a couple of tax loopholes without disturbing the basic structure of inequality. If the meek ever inherit the earth, these people will be land barons!
The stakes are enormous, for this is not finally about arcane tax matters, but a struggle for America's essential egalitarian idea that we're all in this together. The proposal for a bold, unabashedly progressive wealth tax is a rallying cry for grassroots rebels to join forces and work together to reassert America's historic democratic promise.
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