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Newly sworn-in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has a "radical" idea, according to journalist Anderson Cooper—taxing America's richest households as much as 60 to 70 percent on some income to help combat climate change. Politico writes:
Speaking with Anderson Cooper in a “60 Minutes” interview scheduled to air Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said a dramatic increase in taxes could support her “Green New Deal” goal of eliminating the use of fossil fuels within 12 years — a goal she acknowledges is ambitious.
Ocasio-Cortez was suggesting a progressive tax rate, where not all income would be taxed at the same rate, even within the same household. At each new level of income reached, the taxes would progressively rise.
“There’s an element where yeah, people are going to have to start paying their fair share in taxes," Ocasio-Cortez explained.
That's when Cooper suggested that a progressive rate where people pay their fair share would be a "radical" policy. Ocasio-Cortez was just fine with that, noting that most people who make history such as Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt advanced policies that were also viewed as radical at the time.
“I think that it only has ever been radicals that have changed this country,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Yeah, if that’s what radical means, call me a radical.”