Republicans and free-marketeers like to make taxes on investment out to be an all-or-nothing proposition: You either must support abolishing capital gains because it’s anathema to capitalism, or you’re just out to soak the rich.
But why not go with progressive taxation of investment income? We do it for labor income, but investment income has largely replaced labor income at the top of the spectrum. Let’s capture it all! And we can argue that it democratizes investment (makes it cheaper for small investors), which ought to be a good thing.
As an added political bonus, we could even make the case that the top labor income brackets could be reduced if we made the top investment income brackets higher. This sets the “kind-of-rich” - doctors, TV anchors, athletes, musicians, etc. - against the super-rich who they already resent as their main obstacles towards the next step of wealth. In other words, it gives us a wedge to pull back in all of those popular figures who were socially liberal but just rich enough that they swallowed their consciences and supported Trump. The Kanyes and Caitlyn Jenners of the world.
I know those defections left a sour taste in the mouths of the left, but these defectors are the vanguard of the sapping of the Democratic coalition. I’d argue that they haven’t been converted to GOP True Believers just yet, which means it’s good politics for us to get them back on side and rehabilitate their consciences, instead of letting them slip further into hotepery and legitimizing the GOP’s minoritarian rule.
Tax Investment Progressively
Tax Investment Progressively
Tax Investment Progressively
Republicans and free-marketeers like to make taxes on investment out to be an all-or-nothing proposition: You either must support abolishing capital gains because it’s anathema to capitalism, or you’re just out to soak the rich.
But why not go with progressive taxation of investment income? We do it for labor income, but investment income has largely replaced labor income at the top of the spectrum. Let’s capture it all! And we can argue that it democratizes investment (makes it cheaper for small investors), which ought to be a good thing.
As an added political bonus, we could even make the case that the top labor income brackets could be reduced if we made the top investment income brackets higher. This sets the “kind-of-rich” - doctors, TV anchors, athletes, musicians, etc. - against the super-rich who they already resent as their main obstacles towards the next step of wealth. In other words, it gives us a wedge to pull back in all of those popular figures who were socially liberal but just rich enough that they swallowed their consciences and supported Trump. The Kanyes and Caitlyn Jenners of the world.
I know those defections left a sour taste in the mouths of the left, but these defectors are the vanguard of the sapping of the Democratic coalition. I’d argue that they haven’t been converted to GOP True Believers just yet, which means it’s good politics for us to get them back on side and rehabilitate their consciences, instead of letting them slip further into hotepery and legitimizing the GOP’s minoritarian rule.