The super rich at Davos are scared of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposal to hike taxes on the wealt

[Eugene]

Source: CNBC

The super rich at Davos are scared of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposal to hike taxes on the wealthy

Hugh Son | Brian Schwartz
Published 3 Hours Ago Updated 1 Hour Ago

DAVOS, Switzerland – The elite financiers attending the World Economic Forum are worried about the 70 percent tax rate on earnings above $10 million proposed by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

"It's scary," Scott Minerd, global chief investment officer for $265 billion Guggenheim Partners, said in an interview.

"By the time we get to the presidential election, this is going to gain more momentum," said Minerd, who added that he would probably be personally impacted by it. "And I think the likelihood that a 70 percent tax rate, or something like that, becomes policy is actually very real."

The billionaires and millionaires attending Davos had misgivings about Ocasio-Cortez's proposal, which she made during a recent interview on CBS' "60 Minutes." A poll found that 59 percent of voters were in favor of the idea, and even 45 percent of Republicans liked it. The lawmaker has turned heads in Washington and on Wall Street with her left-wing economic rhetoric, despite only being sworn into office earlier this month. Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, identifies as a Democratic-Socialist.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/22/davos-billionaires-are-scared-of-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tax-proposal.html

[pwb]

1. It is 70% tax after the first 10 million in income.

Just saying?

[allgood33]

28. They are afraid the rest of the world might be able to live a decent life with the redistribution of

wealth the 1% has stolen from them.

[shanny]

2. Good.

[BluesRunTheGame]

3. Scared?

So this is what “scares” rich people. Not the cost of medical care. Not the cost of student loan debt. They’re afraid of paying taxes on income over ten million dollars in a single year.

[bdamomma]

35. It's way past the time

we take a lot of pieces from their pie.

Greedy bastards, it's like who has more money than the other.

[sarcasmo]

4. That means AOC is on the right path.

[Vinca]

5. That makes me totally love AOC.

[Bettie]

6. That's the sign that

it is a great idea! IF the rich hate it, DO IT!

[safeinOhio]

7. Everyone pays the same amount on the same amount earned.

I make, say $35,000/year. The Billionaire pays the same amount I do on his first $35,000. I have no problem with it at all. I'd be more than happy to pay 70% on everything I make over $10 million.

[ProfessorPlum]

8. remember, these people quaking in their boots

make at least $10 million per year.

I think they'll be ok.

[Midnightwalk]

9. Someone is going to pay

I'd rather have someone richer than me paying more. I'm safe at 10 million a year. At the same note to future self: Don't whine about a high marginal rate on what you make over 10 million when others live pay check to pay check

[jalan48]

10. But I want my super wealth privileges!

[Calista241]

11. I think the the billionaire class will do what they always do, and park money / assets off shore

if such a tax bracket were to be passed. They'll have plenty of warning, and I would bet the Koch's and others are in the process of moving money and assets off-shore now, just in case this gets traction after 2020.

[fescuerescue]

20. I think that people miss this

Ultimately, the billionaire class is the ones setting the rules anyway.

If that rate is coming in 2020, it's because most billionaires want it to come and their money will have long ago been safely moved.

[wellst0nev0ter]

29. Effective tax rates of the one percenters

1950 (90% top rate): 42%

2014: 36.4%

The wealthy always have their ways.

https://slate.com/business/2017/08/the-history-of-tax-rates-for-the-rich.html

[MicaelS]

12. Make it 90 or 95 percent. n/t

[Xolodno]

13. I agree with it...however...

...it should be phased in by increments every year. All at once could be an economic shock. For example, if I ordered a yacht (I know, I know, bad example) and put down a deposit while it gets built, but then cancel due to not being able to afford it anymore via taxes. The people building it are now unemployed, the business may even shut down if all its orders are suddenly canceled.

Plus high value real estate would devalue sharply, as many "elite" simply won't be able to afford the upkeep on the properties. Thus depriving municipalities, counties, school districts, etc. tax income in one large swoop.

It took decades to create this mess, its not going to be easily undone in a year.

[onethatcares]

14. they've already been depriving all of the above

of taxes, along with taking tax subsidies to build their fortunes, and that's what they are, fortunes.

I call it fortunes build on greed, pure and simple greed.

and yes, I have seen a poor man create a job. him and a bunch of poor men together.

the super wealthy don't become altruistic without a shove.

EAT THE RICH

[Xolodno]

15. Ok...lets look at this in terms of Fox Propoganda...

...you work in construction, you have a job building a mansion...then boom, your out of a job because the person who purchased the house can no longer afford to pay for it. So he gets on his soap box, tells the blue collar workers a sad song and to vote "R".

We've been down this road before, lets learn from it. Greed will push the guy to continue funding the project, an extra 5-10% in taxes that year isn't going to bother him. The construction worker keeps his job, but over time, will build less mansions and more modest homes, renovations, etc. as the middle class starts to rise again.

Drastic economic change in history shows it never works out well. I'm a socialist and consider Democrats "conservative"...but the econ degree I got keeps me sensible.

[pwb]

16. Fox propaganda would be everyone would pay 70% tax rate.

Which is total bull.

[Xolodno]

17. Sure they'll believe that until it doesn't happen to them.

And won't admit they fell for it.

But when they get a pink slip....they'll believe all the bullshit. These are people whose intellect thinks in terms of...to use an analogy, play the game of Candyland, trying to explain the rules of Dungeons and Dragons is way over their head.

[onethatcares]

21. what's really wierd is

I work in construction and have had jobs building mansions. The people that build mansions usually have enough money going into the project so taxes are not going to stop construction. At least that's what I've seen close up and personal.

I've seen the wealthy play the don/don't pay them ticket. But it's never been because they got hit with a larger tax bill. Usually it's due to divorce and stupidity. They have ways and accountants that help them around all that crap.

I got a degree from hard knocks U. still working on my doctorate. Congrats on the econ degree.

Ain't busting chops, but I am still working on my first ever million dollar gross income year.

[Xolodno]

23. I hear yah..

...my dad put me on the roof at 13, which happens to be the same day I decided I wasn't going work in the family business. But I pretty much grew up in construction. I've seen a few movie star homes before they moved in.

The thing about taxes, if you craft the policy right, its pretty hard to avoid. Unless you move and get citizenship in another country...but that doesn't happen as often because, the other country usually has a higher "overall" tax rate (other nations have a lower capital gains tax...but they make up for that in other ways).

To go on a side track, our tax system currently rewards companies, people, etc. to sit their ass on piles of cash and invest it in safe stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. We don't encourage risk taking. For example;

Lets say I get million dollars in profit from all my sources of income, however, I'm only going to get 300k after taxes. Unless of course, I invest most of that into a riskier approved venture. Should it fail, its a write off that gives me more income, if it succeeds, I get an additional revenue stream that gives me more income. I'm still paying more taxes, the question is of course, how much?

The advantage, the ventures employ people, distribute tax income to local areas, etc. no matter if they succeed or fail. Right now, we are encouraging the new version of the corporate raiders of the 80's, the slower moving, but the same thing called vulture capitalism.

[onethatcares]

36. I slept on this and

what we are discussing is a 70% tax on incomes over $10,000,000.00. It changes the parameters from a tax on $1,000,000.00 greatly.

I don't see the upside to this wealth disparity.

EAT THE RICH.

[JHB]

18. We're gonna need a smaller violin

[nuxvomica]

24. LOL

[fescuerescue]

19. I don't think they are scared of her.

While they don't own her, they own a huge chunk of her coworkers.

And the President.

[haele]

22. They should be more afraid of the long-term effects of income inequality in this century.

Sure, the short-term effects are really sweet, but as more people become stressed out, the world becomes a sewer pretty damn quickly as there's no new carefree, pristine places to go to frolic with all those mega-bucks dollars and the wealthy will pretty much be stuck going from gated compound to gated compound in their armored vehicles to keep the world away from them.

Add in Climate change, and the starving mobs aren't going to be working in the factories and offices, or buying the shit that makes money for stockholders and hedge funds.

All the mercenaries, walls or oceans in the world aren't going to protect the rich - they've really got no place else to escape to any time within the next century or so.
Feudalism only works when communication and other technology available to the society at large is minimal, and the majority of your people are stuck in one place and don't have to be educated. If you need an educated workforce to maintain your technology and economic level, you need a middle class - which requires some form of democracy and equal civil rights to maintain a comfortable, secure society for the people on top.

And if the majority of the wealthy are foolish enough to experiment with "underground" or oceanic communities, or with AI realities...well, those sorts of escapes need specialists to handle the maintenance in all those scenarios, and they can't just expect to pick up a bunch of undocumented workers on "visas" to play loyal plantation worker for them on their private plantations as they do now.
They're either going to start bending an educated, semi-skilled to skilled workforce to agree become long-term slaves, or they're going to have to hire professionals and treat that workforce with respect.

70% marginal tax rate on annual personal income over the amount required to live comfortably is very reasonable. No rich F***er is going to suffer or not be able to do whatever he or she wants with their personal income - and if they're using that over $10 million for research or some other big ticket investment - if they don't have an accountant who can figure out a way write that off, then they're idiots who don't "deserve" to be making over $10 million a year. If you need the money to run a business, even if you just inherited it, you can claim the business costs or investments that you're making.

As for anyone who got a big lottery/windfall payday - there's ways of banking and investing that money so as not to get taxed.

Anyway, taxes are the price for a comfortable society that can thrive. Anyone who doesn't understand that is either an idiot or a psychopath.

Haele

[onethatcares]

37. I totally agree with you

thanks for putting my thoughts into words.

[appalachiablue]

25. Kick, Whole lot of shakin' going on, strirring things up

[wellst0nev0ter]

26. It just got ten points higher

they can jump from their glass towers if they don't like it.

[wroberts189]

30. world-26-richest-people-own-as-much-as-poorest-50-percent

I think it should go even higher for the wealthiest 70-80-90%


https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/21/world-26-richest-people-own-as-much-as-poorest-50-per-cent-oxfam-report


https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/21/oxfam-calls-for-global-tax-hikes-for-the-worlds-richest.html

[fierywoman]

31. Aaaaiiiii! Pobrecitos !!!!

[former9thward]

32. No one is afraid of someone who says the world is going to end in 12 years.

AOC said that.

The world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change,' Ocasio-Cortez says

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/01/22/ocasio-cortez-climate-change-alarm/2642481002/

[UTUSN]

33. *ALL* of the wingnuts are scared shitless of her, that's what I like about her!1

Last edited Fri Jan 25, 2019, 04:28 PM - Edit history (4)

[Hekate]

34. I seriously doubt that one freshman Congresswoman has Davos attendees shaking in their boots...

The Chaos Orange is more likely to strike fear in their hearts.