Bloomberg.com: on Tax Reform


Beto O`Rourke: Wealth tax would generate revenue for 'common benefit'

"Fundamental to this experiment to America and our democracy is ensuring we don't have princes and princesses, kings and queens, a concentration of wealth and power and privilege," the former U.S. Representative from Texas said at a campaign stop in Rock Hill, South Carolina. "That is exactly what we have in this country right now." A wealth tax would generate revenue for "our common benefit," such as infrastructure projects and health care, he said.
Source: Bloomberg News, "Wealth Tax," on 2020 Democratic primary Mar 22, 2019

Mike Bloomberg: Tax cuts paying for themselves defies reality

CEOs aren't waiting on a tax cut to "jump-start the economy"--a favorite phrase of politicians who have never run a company--or to hand out raises. It's pure fantasy to think that the tax bill will lead to significantly higher wages and growth, as Republicans have promised. Had Congress actually listened to executives, or economists who study these issues carefully, it might have realized that. The Treasury Department claimed to have more than 100 professional staffers "working around the clock" to analyze the tax cut. If true, their hard work must have been suppressed. The flimsy one-page analysis Treasury released--which accepts the White House's reality-defying economic projections in order to claim that the tax cuts will pay for themselves and then some--is a politically driven document that amounts to economic malpractice. So does the bill itself.
Source: OpEd by Michael Bloomberg in Bloomberg News Dec 15, 2017

Mike Bloomberg: GOP tax bill is an economically indefensible blunder

In effect, the tax bill [passed by Congressional Republicans and signed by President Trump in December 2017] achieves four main things:
  1. It takes money away from schools and students.
  2. It restricts our ability to invest in infrastructure.
  3. It does nothing to boost real wages while making health insurance more expensive.
  4. It makes it harder to control the costs of Medicare and Social Security without cutting defense and other spending--or further exploding the deficit.
To what end? To hand corporations big tax cuts they don't need, while lowering the tax rate paid by those of us in the top bracket, and allowing the wealthy to shelter more of their estates.

The tax bill is an economically indefensible blunder that will harm our future. The Republicans in Congress who must surely know it--and who have bucked party leaders before--should vote no.

Source: OpEd by Michael Bloomberg in Bloomberg News Dec 15, 2017

Bill Frist: Pushed compromise: reduce Estate Tax & raise minimum wage

While Frist long sided with fiscal conservatives who want a permanent repeal of the federal estate tax, he was criticized as an ineffectual leader this year when he saw such a proposal lacked support and instead tried unsuccessfully to push a reduction in the levy. A compromise he forged that combined the estate-tax measure with an increase in the minimum wage by $2.10 and the extension of research tax credit favored by business failed in the Senate.
Source: Laura Litvan in Bloomberg News Nov 30, 2006

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2020 Presidential contenders on Tax Reform:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Dec 15, 2021