Wealth Tax
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I–VT) claims that if “my 5% billionaire wealth tax” is enacted, Jeff Bezos “would owe $12 billion in taxes, and an average family of 4 would receive a $12,000 direct payment.”
IN FACT, 5% of the $6.8 trillion in wealth owned by all U.S. billionaires would provide an average payment of $2,500 to each of the 135 million households in the nation. This is 7% of the $30,000 average that the federal government spends per year on social programs for each household in the country.
Furthermore, Sanders’ bill would confiscate 5% of billionaires’ wealth every year, draining it from investments that increase productivity, which is the primary driver of living standards. Such investments are one of the main reasons why middle- and low-income Americans are richer than their counterparts in every other nation of the world.
Sanders’ economic policies largely accord with that of the Soviet Union, where the average living standard “was roughly one third that of the United States.”
To advance his agenda, Sanders regularly bribes voters by promising to use the power of government to take money from others and give it to them. Meanwhile, Sanders opposes the right of Americans to spend their own money to voice their political opinions, and he calls this free speech “legalized bribery.”
