We Can’t Income-Tax Ultra-Elites. We Must Tax Their Wealth.
To tax the richest Americans, we need to go after their wealth, not just their income. Two proposals — one in California, one in Congress — could finally do it. The alternative is an ever-more-powerful billionaire class that threatens democracy itself.
Last year’s Republican tax bill, the self-styled Big Beautiful Bill, continued a decade...
The strongest version of this narrative highlights a systemic failure in the U.S. tax system, where billionaires exploit loopholes to avoid paying their fair share, exacerbating inequality and undermining democracy. The proposals for wealth taxes—both in California and federally—are framed as necessary correctives to a broken system, with strong public support and historical precedent. The argument gains credibility from data showing declining effective tax rates for the ultra-rich and the growi...