Biden wants to spend lots of money on social programs and pay for it by taxing the rich.
A very big chunk of the American electorate loves that idea. A survey conducted October 8-12, 2021, found two-thirds of Americans support Biden’s $3.5 trillion package, which includes things like child care subsidies and free community college, and “71 percent of voters support raising taxes on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans to pay for the bill,” Vox magazine reported here.
Some billionaires, notably legendary investor Warren Buffett, have supported taxing their own class more (see, e.g., story here).
Years of tax dodging by wealthy people have stoked public anger and worn people’s patience thin. Things came to somewhat of a head when the New York Times got hold of Trump’s tax returns and reported the guy who bragged about being worth billions hasn’t paid any taxes in years, although in his case it’s because he’s a lousy businessman whose many businesses are money losers, not money makers. But the disclosure did shine a light on the fact the very rich don’t pay much, if any, taxes.
People also are flocking to rich-bashing entertainment like the TV series “Succession,” which portrays a fictional media-kingpin family that bears a passing resemblance to the Murdochs and Hearsts. Although if I were scripting the show, I would’ve made them a pharma family, and called them the “Sucklers.” Nobody particular in mind. By the way, if you haven’t seen the movie “Knives Out,” you should.
Below: An infamous scene from “Succession”
Taxing the rich is always popular. It is rather simple when an individual rich person gets a pay check and that is the bulk of their income. Most rich do not even get a paycheck. The very rich who control corporations get their income from profits. They get dividends from stocks, stock options, ect all taxed at lower tax rates than ordinary income. Some of it is really under the table stuff but sophisticated thought up by accountants. All of it legal, but you got to have big buck to do it, and in some cases the rich person appears to be taking a bath, but others work out, but the real game is the rich person keeps their value and keeps up with inflation and reduces their taxable income while even what they lose money on increases as a an asset to be sold at some time in the future, when a bath is needed to cancel out a highly successful year, or oh my this dog is actually worth something, who knew.
That doesn’t really say anything about the issue, other than acknowledging the obvious, i.e. beating up the rich is a popular sport.