The Republc Party and their wealthy bankster, financial, and other “capitalist” overlords have long profited from disaster capitalism (one of the many signs capitalism, at least the US version of “capitalism”, is very sick, a topic for another day). The time has come for Dems and other progressives to flip the script and forcefully push for disaster revenue enhancement based on recent current events which have really started to focus a large segment of the US population on how the wealthy truly have rigged practically every system affecting their lives in favor of the wealthy. Some Dems have begun to do this, most notably Ocasio-Cortez with her calls for a significantly increased top tax rate on upper income levels and Warren with her push for a wealth tax. However, messages do take hold much more solidly when one can directly tie them to current events, as the disaster capitalists often show us. So here are a couple/few ideas, not necessarily original, for consideration (yes I am aware that nothing will happen with members of the republic party controlling the White House and a branch of Congress, but for any idea to take hold advocacy is necessary).
1. Annual 2% tax on total college and university endowment funds over some reasonable base amount, to establish funding for full scholarships at all state 2 and 4 year colleges and universities and trade schools for every first time student—as recent events have made clear, the wealthy have many legal and illegal options for placing their children in top colleges and universities, with either the implicit and explicit knowledge of those institutions (not all participate in illegal options). Many of these institutions have endowments that vastly exceed annual expenses and instead operate as very large investment or hedge funds, which have grown significantly untaxed each year (the TCJA does impose a 1.4% tax on the earnings for a somewhat limited number of institutions but this is peanuts despite the howls by these institutions). Higher education institutions of all stripes and sizes have enabled such practices for a very long time. This tax will help level the playing field for those families who have neither the income/wealth nor the connections or celebrity status to take advantage of those practices. Revenue raised can also be used to provide funding to help replace lead piping at all elementary, middle, and high schools in the US.
2. 2-5% tax on business entity financial statement profit to establish a health care fund for all citizens—each year we read about any number of large profitable entities earning vast profits (many in the billions of dollars range) but paying zero tax. Businesses have also managed to use partnerships and disregarded entities to manipulate taxable income. This tax would apply to all business entities (corporations, S corporations, partnerships, LLCs) subject to a reasonable and true-small-business profit floor, and allowing for credits to upper tier entities who receive flow through income from a pass through entity so taxed This fund could be used towards some version of a single payer system, expansion of Medicare to younger citizens, for the establishment of a viable “ public option”, or to fund an unrestricted refundable tax credit to individuals for premiums paid. This tax could be coupled with an annual corporate wealth tax that reclaims a percentage of unused business cash reserves—cash reserves are at record levels and sit idle when instead such reserves should be used to invest in creating US jobs. If businesses wish to hoard cash instead of expanding US operations or rewarding employee productivity, the government can put some of these reserves to work.
3. A 2-5 cent transaction fee on all trades originating in the US on any financial market—the financial titans who brought us the Great Recession neither suffered any substantial consequence nor have learned their lesson, while exotic investments persist and expand. Funds raised by this fee can be used for almost any purpose—for example, to help establish a fund to provide an income replacement benefit to US workers displaced by technology or offshoring; individual mortgage assistance; environmental cleanup; or clean and renewable energy expansion (including assistance to energy and other fossil fuel based businesses to convert to clean/renewable sources).