[rad-green] New Poll Shows Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Support a Wealth Tax to Fund Universal Programs

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/10/see-not-radical-new-poll-shows-nearly-two-thirds-americans-support-wealth-tax-fund
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/10/see-not-radical-new-poll-shows-nearly-two-thirds-americans-support-wealth-tax-fund>Common
Dreams                January 10, 2020'See? Not Radical': New Poll Shows
Nearly Two-Thirds of Americans Support a Wealth Tax to Fund Universal
Programs"It's simple. The majority of Americans believe that we should tax
the rich."by Julia Conley, staff writer*

*Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) holds up
two fingers to represent her two cent wealth tax while speaking at a
campaign event at Clark Atlanta University on November 21, 2019 in Atlanta.
(Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)*

Supporters of a wealth tax to combat persistent economic inequality in the
U.S. pointed to recent  polling
<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-inequality-poll/majority-of-americans-favor-wealth-tax-on-very-rich-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKBN1Z9141>
by
Reuters/Ipsos showing that nearly two-thirds of respondents support taxing
the rich at higher rates to support programs that would benefit all
Americans.

Sixty-four percent of respondents said they either strongly or "somewhat"
agreed with the statement, "The very rich should contribute an extra share
of their total wealth each year to support public programs."

The sentiment found support across race, gender, and income demographics as
well as from across the political spectrum. Seventy-seven percent of
Democrats agreed that the rich should be taxed at a higher rate, while 53%
of Republicans agreed.

Meanwhile, 54% of the poll's 4,441 respondents disagreed with a contrasting
statement, that "the very rich should be allowed to keep the money they
have, even if that means increasing inequality."

"See? Not radical," tweeted Michael Sayman, a young millionaire and Google
executive who has expressed support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the
2020 Democratic primary and has called on the government
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/28/tax-hell-out-me-says-young-millionaire-google-exec-prospect-president-bernie-sanders>to
"tax the hell out of me" to help support working Americans.

While some centrist Democrats running in the primary have dismissed
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/policy-2020/economic-inequality/>
wealth
tax proposals as unrealistic, the plans put forward by the Vermont senator
and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are not far off from the tax structures
which existed in the U.S. for much of the 20th century.

In 2018, the overall tax rate for the 400 wealthiest Americans
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/07/maddening-graphic-shows-how-400-richest-americans-paid-less-taxes-any-other-income>
was
just 23%, compared with 70% in 1950 and 47% in 1980.

Under Sanders' wealth tax plan,
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/24/i-dont-think-billionaires-should-exist-sanders-proposes-wealth-tax-slash-fortunes>
the
government would levy a 1% tax on fortunes between $32 and $50 million,
with the rate progressively increasing on richer Americans. The proposal
would raise an estimated $4.35 trillion in its first decade, with revenue
being used to pay for Medicare for All and other universal programs.

Warren began her presidential campaign a year ago by unveiling her own plan
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/24/warren-forces-issue-massive-economic-inequality-2020-debate-ultra-millionaire-tax>for
a wealth tax, calling for a 2% tax on all wealth over $50 million. Warren's
proposal would raise $2.75 trillion in its first decade and would affect
just 0.1% of U.S. households, while funding her free college tuition for
all, universal childcare, and student debt cancellation plans.

Taxing the rich has bipartisan support. Reuters recorded at least one
comment from a Trump supporter who said, "It just seems the rich don't pay
their share."

The grassroots group Tax March tweeted that the answer to the debate over a
wealth tax is "simple."

"The majority of Americans believe that we should tax the rich," the group
said.

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