To the editor: Full disclosure: I’m neither a billionaire nor a Republican.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ op-ed about the proposed California billionaire tax is at best naïve (“Yes, billionaires must pay a wealth tax to save healthcare and democracy,” May 4). Accusing billionaires of extortion because they have threatened to move their businesses out of California if the tax passes is absurd; it’s just good business sense. Even Gov. Gavin Newsom thinks the tax is a bad idea.
The op-ed also fails to address another aspect of fundamental fairness. If someone reached into your pocket and pulled out some of your cash, wouldn’t you feel wronged? Well, that’s likely how the billionaires feel. Billionaires have to fill out tax returns like the rest of us. Exactly how are they avoiding paying taxes?
If this tax passes, what stops the socialists behind this from passing another tax every two years? Or another that drops the threshold to $100 million? And if that succeeds, just keep dropping the threshold until you’re now taxing nearly everyone.
My father was a very wise man. When I was very young, he told me that the Democratic Party is all about bringing everyone down to the same level. It tries to punish individual initiative with excessive taxation. And this is a classic example of that.
Cutting back on funding for healthcare is not right, but neither is this tax. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Jim Rueff, Fountain Valley
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To the editor: Sen. Sanders’ illuminating op-ed convinces me to vote for California’s billionaire tax. Sanders asks, “Why are the opponents of this initiative unwilling to honestly debate this issue?” They can’t debate because they can’t allow the truth to come out: Most of the super-rich are perfectly willing to allow the masses to descend into a permanent underclass — poverty-stricken, powerless, weak and therefore at the mercy of their overlords. Maybe that’s even what they want: They, the 938 billionaires, would be more powerful than the rest of the American population, and therefore able to do whatever they wish.
Will the voters allow their science-fiction fantasy to become a sickening reality?
Margo Kasdan, Seal Beach
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To the editor: All anybody wants is safety and security in life. Without that, we see resentment, violence and desperation. If I were a billionaire, I would want to do what I could to benefit humanity and my country as a whole.
Our interconnectedness cannot be ignored. No matter how high you build your fences, you are still part of the ecosystem. A small amount of pocket change from the ultra-rich can make a profound change for the ordinary Joe just trying to get by.
Celeste Demetor, Lake Arrowhead
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To the editor: The rich and especially billionaires are such easy targets for more tax revenue. We demonize the greedy and arrogant billionaire class because they never pay their “fair share” and contribute significantly to the massive wealth inequality problem. Just imagine all the wonderful new programs that can be created with the billions that wealth taxes will generate. Free universal child care, raises for teachers, dental and vision care for seniors, etc.
But then, what happens when the billionaires flee the state? And surely they will, unless they are fools or philanthropists. All that new state spending will keep growing as the wealth tax receipts disappear. Of course, none of these new programs will be cut, so the budget deficit will explode.
To stay afloat, new taxes must be imposed on everyone. If it passes, the billionaire tax will prove to be not such a great idea in retrospect.
Glynn Morris, Savannah, Ga.
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To the editor: Why stop with the tax on billionaires? Let’s go after all of the money spent (and wasted) on political campaigns. Let’s put a cap on all salaries and redistribute to the less fortunate. Let’s have a central group decide where charitable contributions should go. As Karl Marx said so succinctly, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
One day soon, the workers will have had enough (e.g., protesters going after Jeff Bezos at the Met Gala) and will go on strike. Then what?
Linda Salzman, Rancho Palos Verdes
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To the editor: Here’s an idea: Let’s make the billionaire tax voluntary. I can think of a few socially conscious establishment figures and up-and-comers who might respond.
Let’s couple it with an annual awards ceremony celebrating California’s top taxpayers (and include a nod of denunciation to our state tax defectors).
Giving a little of a lot can gain a lot in the public’s estimation.
Sheran James, Laguna Beach