Eli Broad is a person of wealth, an entrepreneur who created two Fortune 500 corporations and has been ranked in the top 100 wealthiest people in the world. He has a cry from the heart in the NY Times today:
A child of immigrants from Lithuania who came to America with almost nothing, he was born in 1933. He grew up in the Depression and the World War II years. Starting as an accountant in the early 1950’s, he embarked on a career marked by his ability to go beyond conventional wisdom. Today in his 80’s he is challenging the 1% by speaking heresy — he wants to see his taxes raised.
...Two decades ago I turned full-time to philanthropy and threw myself into supporting public education, scientific and medical research, and visual and performing arts, believing it was my responsibility to give back some of what had so generously been given to me. But I’ve come to realize that no amount of philanthropic commitment will compensate for the deep inequities preventing most Americans — the factory workers and farmers, entrepreneurs and electricians, teachers, nurses and small-business owners — from the basic prosperity we call the American dream.
...It’s time to start talking seriously about a wealth tax.
Some will say I’m calling for the populist masses to take out the pitchforks and take down the titans of Wall Street. Some will say it’s just too difficult to execute. Others will call it a flight of fancy.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not advocating an end to the capitalist system that’s yielded some of the greatest gains in prosperity and innovation in human history. I simply believe it’s time for those of us with great wealth to commit to reducing income inequality, starting with the demand to be taxed at a higher rate than everyone else.
emphasis added
While Broad doesn’t endorse a single candidate, he cites proposals from Warren, Sanders, and Wyden as examples of what he’d like to see. He says nothing about the current administration or the Republican Party — no call for bipartisanship on this. He’s nobody’s fool.
He concludes with this:
Let’s admit out loud what we all know to be true: A wealth tax can start to address the economic inequality eroding the soul of our country’s strength. I can afford to pay more, and I know others can too. What we can’t afford are more shortsighted policies that skirt big ideas, avoid tough issues and do little to alleviate the poverty faced by millions of Americans. There’s no time to waste.
emphasis added
Read the whole thing. It’s behind the NY Times paywall, but you may be able to see it if you haven’t used up your quota of free articles. Clearing cookies from your browser may be another way to get to it.
The mainstream media and the Democratic establishment are the embodiment of conventional wisdom; perhaps Broad’s call to tax wealth directly will start to move the ground under their feet. Would it be to much to expect Broad to shift the Overton Window on wealth taxes from ‘fringe’ to “mainstream’? ShowerCap has a determined rant about the ability of the media to normalize truly horrible things. It would be nice to see it work the other way for once.
As Broad says, there’s no time to waste.
* Note — edited title to bring more attention to Broad’s call.