Raise Taxes on the Wealthy

For decades, Washington has handed out massive tax breaks to the richest Americans and big corporations while hollowing out public services. The result is exploding inequality and a strained federal budget that leaves everyday people being asked to sacrifice while elites benefit.

This is an intensely personal issue for me. I grew up in a middle-class family, but after I helped build the payment processing company Stripe, I became a centimillionaire — at least on paper — myself. For me, it was a shocking and weird experience. I got lucky. Sure, I worked hard, but harder than a public school teacher or a nurse? No. Plenty of people work hard but never win the lottery like I did. We have to address the rampant wealth inequality in America by making sure that the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes and that we use that money to invest in working people.

I am running on an ambitious, progressive platform to fix the nation's budget and invest heavily in programs that support working families — from universal childcare to Medicare for All to more affordable housing. The only way that any of this will be possible is if we fix our broken tax system and make the wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share.

In Congress, I will fight to:

• Pass the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act proposed by Elizabeth Warren and Pramila Jayapal. This bill creates a wealth tax on all assets owned by the top 0.05 percent of Americans by having them pay 2 cents for every dollar of wealth over $50 million, and 3 cents for every dollar of wealth over $1 billion. Studies estimate that this tax alone could raise close to $3 trillion over the next ten years.
• Raise taxes on high earners and corporations to New Deal levels. During the 1950s and 60s — a period of unprecedented economic growth and middle-class prosperity — the top marginal income tax rate was over 90% and the corporate tax rate was over 50%.
• Raise the Social Security income cap so all earnings are treated the same. Currently, only the first $168,000 of income is taxed to pay for Social Security. Therefore, someone making $100,000 pays Social Security taxes on every dollar, while a multimillion-dollar earner pays on only a small share of their income. Eliminating the cap ensures high earners contribute at the same rate as everyone else.
• Close the carried interest loophole. Right now, wealthy private equity and hedge fund managers pay a lower tax rate on their income than nurses and firefighters. That's because their compensation — called "carried interest" — is taxed at the capital gains rate instead of as ordinary income.
• Introduce a tax on margin loans used by the ultra-wealthy to avoid taxes. Billionaires have learned how to live lavishly without ever paying income tax. Instead of selling their stock and paying capital gains taxes, they borrow against it — giving them tax-free income. I will fight to close this loophole by treating large loans against appreciated assets as taxable events.