In the United States, the top 1 percent of taxpayers pay more in income taxes than the bottom 90 percent combined, and the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers pay only about 3 percent of the income taxes. The current incarnation of the tax code has seven tax brackets. Five of them are over 20 percent, with the highest rate being 37 percent. This is on top of the 12.4 percent (split equally between employer and employee) Social Security tax that Americans pay on the first $168,600 of their income and the 2.9 percent (split equally between employer and employee) Medicare tax that Americans pay on every dollar of their income. The rich in the United States are certainly paying their “fair share.” And then there is the estate tax that ranges from 18 to 40% on assets over $13.61 million.
Some of the rich in the United States don’t think they are paying enough in taxes. In an open letter to the global leaders gathered at the recent Davos meeting, some of the world’s super rich begged to be taxed more. “As the wealthiest members of society,” they say that they would be:
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- Proud to pay more to tackle extreme inequality.
- Proud to pay more to help reduce the cost of living for working people.
- Proud to pay more to better educate the next generation.
- Proud to pay more for resilient healthcare systems.
- Proud to pay more for better infrastructure.
- Proud to pay more for a green transition.
- Proud to pay more taxes on our extreme wealth.
The letter is signed by residents of 17 countries, including Americans Abigail Disney (Disney heir), Valerie Rockefeller (Rockefeller heir), George Zimmer (former CEO of Men’s Wearhouse), and Holly Marklyn (retired Microsoft executive).
I note that Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg did not sign the open letter.
If the super rich in the United States are so proud to pay more, then what is stopping them?
Why don’t the super rich write a check to every American who makes under $50k a year?
Why don’t the super rich buy every American a new car?
Why don’t the super rich sign up every American for a meal service?
Why don’t the super rich give every child a voucher to attend the school of his choice?
Why don’t the super rich give every unemployed American a job at their foundation?
Why don’t the super rich guarantee every American a universal basic income?
Why don’t the super rich build houses and give them away to poor Americans?
Why don’t the super rich pave every highway in America?
Why don’t the super rich give a million dollars to every food bank in the United States?
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Why don’t the super rich guarantee every American a job paying a minimum of $20 an hour?
Why don’t the super rich build new hospitals and free clinics?
Why don’t the super rich pay for every American to have a college education?
Why don’t the super rich pay off every American’s credit cards and student loan debt?
Why don’t the super rich pay for an apartment for every homeless person?
Why don’t the super rich give a million dollars to every charity in the United States?
Why don’t the super rich pay for every American’s health insurance?
Why don’t the super rich like Abigail Disney buy every American a ticket to Disney World?
What are the super rich waiting for? Why are they waiting for government to tax them more? If they are proud to pay, then why don’t they just pay up and shut up?
