America’s billionaires have a net worth of about $5 trillion or $5,000,000,000,000 so if we tax their wealth as a few free thinkers would have us do there would be a lot of money to spend. Or would there? 10% of five trillion is five hundred billion.
So what would that money buy – assuming taxing the billionaires like that could be sustained year after year without negative economic consequences.
It would pay Medicare’s net expenses for 243 days. Or it would pay Social Security benefits for 152 days.
To put it another way 10% of our billionaire’s wealth equals about $1,500 for each citizen of the U.S. Needless to say, taxing the unrealized appreciation on their investments each year would provide a much lower number.
Sorry folks but the sad truth is that if you want social programs as extensive as Scandinavian countries everybody must pay more in taxes, everybody.
Or, of course we can just keep going deeper in debt.
PS Forgiving all student loans as proposed by our favorite left outlier Sen Sanders would cost $1.6 trillion or if each student was limited to $50,000 a mere $1 trillion.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
If you do not work you do not qualify for EITC or any other tax credit. Higher wages and fair taxes for all income levels and a limit on deductions could go a long way towards stopping the debt bomb. That is coming if we continue to spend 1+ Trillion per year with no end in sight.
LikeLike
Your conclusion says it all.
As Thomas Sowell has said regarding social issues, “…there are no solutions, only trade offs”.
It is difficult to respect the politicians who refuse to acknowledge the fundamental fact that we cannot continue to enjoy even our current level of government-provided benefits, much less greatly enhanced benefits, until and unless ALL citizens are willing to pay substantially more in taxes. Period.
LikeLike
It could reduce this year’s budget deficit from $1.6 TRILLION to only $1.1 TRILLION. But what would happen next year when the rich no longer have that money to tax?
In other terms, this could reduce the national debt from $31.7 trillion to $31.2 trillion in a one time gimmick. That is not much in terms our spending problem.
LikeLike
The magnitude of the numbers is mind boggling…
LikeLike
Nope. EVERYBODY doesn’t have to pay. Those ones at the bottom are net receivers of taxes, as well they should be. First things we learned in Econ was supply and demand, and equitable distribution of goods and services via “perfect competition”, and all the math and graphs that go with that. Next thing we learned was, there’s no such thing as perfect competition.
Unless the billionaires and millionaires want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, they better realize that maintaining the economy means, in part, continuous investment. You got to spend money to make money. Everyone, rich or poor, will be better off.
LikeLike
Well, those low income folks do pay for SS and Medicare and sales taxes and if there ever was a VAT they should pay (income adjusted) portion.
LikeLike
Working poor/non working poor, often receive more in EITC child care credits than they pay in payroll or sales tax, etc.* about 70 percent of Medicaid and SNAP receivers are full time workers. The non-workers are entirely supported by government or private charities. Most non-workers are disabled or can’t work due to family responsibility.
Basically they are net tax recipients.
*Interesting aside, according to the Tax Foundation, they also pay pass through taxes for purchases because, as they say, “corporations don’t pay taxes.”
LikeLike