Some of the nation’s richest people converged in front of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to ask Congress to raise their taxes,
MarketWatch reports.
Joined by lawmakers who have introduced bills to tax the wealthiest Americans, the so-called Patriotic Millionaires issued a proposal to raise taxes on rich people, arguing it would help address growing inequality and avert an uprising.
Abigail Disney, a granddaughter of Walt Disney Co. DIS co-founder Roy Disney, detailed the proposal’s three core principles: First, treat all income over $1 million the same, whether it’s ordinary income, capital gains or inheritance. Second, enact a progressive tax code, in which the tax burden increases according to income. Third, impose a wealth tax on the richest people in America. The plan also called for a 90% income tax on people making more than $100 million a year.
Other members of the Patriotic Millionaires, a group that has advocated for higher taxes on the rich for more than a decade, also spoke at the news conference.
“We have a request for the lawmakers in there,” said former BlackRock Inc. BLK executive Morris Pearl, the group’s chair, pointing to the Capitol building. “Tax us. We want to pay more taxes.”
Pearl lambasted the current tax system and what he called the “ludicrous notion that [tax cuts for the wealthy] creates jobs and trickles down.” “They do not,” he said. “They rig the economy, and America pays the price.”
The group’s call complemented legislation introduced by lawmakers such as Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat who referred to Tuesday — Tax Day — as “the most segregated, most unequal, most unjust day in America.”
