Elon Musk rips Biden's unrealized capital gains tax proposal, warns when they run out of wealthy people's money, they'll 'come for you'



Tesla CEO Elon Musk slammed the Biden administration's proposed tax on unrealized capital gains Monday, warning Americans that the policy would set an extremely dangerous precedent.

What are the details?

The tax — which would siphon money from people's stock gains before they are sold — is set to affect only billionaires if implemented. But many, including Musk, suspect the federal government won't stop there.

Responding to concerned citizen Rick McCracken's tweet about the dangers of "scope creep" as it relates to new tax laws this week, Musk wrote, "Exactly. Eventually, they run out of other people's money and then they come for you."

@RichardMcCrackn @RonWyden @JeffBezos Exactly. Eventually, they run out of other people’s money and then they come for you.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 1635207765.0

McCracken had posted a letter template for those interested in writing to their congressional representatives regarding the proposal. The template goes as follows:

Dear (Senator or Congress Member's name),

I expect you to oppose the Wyden proposal to tax unrealized capital gains. Although the proposal targets billionaires and not myself, the government of elected representatives have a track record of scope creep in writing new taxes. I anticipate that any new unrealized capital gains taxes will slowly make their way down to the middle-class retirement investments over the next several years. Then the modest investments will get hit possibly within a decade. Although principal residences and holdings in 401K plans apparently will be excluded, the Wyden proposal takes new tax hikes a step closer to imposing unrealized capital gains taxes on the average investor.

Thank you for your support.

McCracken tagged Musk and Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos in the tweet.

What else?

Of course, as the world's richest man, Musk's opposition to the policy in many ways is expected, as he stands the most to lose from the implementation of the tax. But his reasoning is likely to resonate with many Americans who distrust politicians and already think the government taxes too heavily.

Also, Republicans stand opposed to the tax proposal because it is being floated as a way to pay for President Biden's multitrillion-dollar social spending package.

Democrats hope the tax will generate at least $200 billion in revenue over a decade to help pay for the costly legislation, the New York Times reported.

The outlet noted the tax, which is being put together by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), head of the Senate Finance Committee, "would affect people with $1 billion in assets or those who have reported at least $100 million in income for three consecutive years."

Democrats now want to tax people’s stock gains before they sell them to help pay for Biden's massive social spending bill



Democratic leadership over the weekend began suggesting a new way to pay for President Biden's multitrillion-dollar social policy and climate action spending bill — a tax on wealthy people's unrealized capital gains.

Unrealized capital gains are increases in value of stock purchases that the purchaser has yet to "realize" by selling the stock at its new price.

"We probably will have a wealth tax," Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) told CNN on Sunday.

In a separate interview with the network, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen confirmed that the policy is being discussed, though she was careful not to call it a wealth tax. According to Yellen, the policy would impose a tax on billionaires' stock gains as well as other assets like real estate.

"I wouldn't call that a wealth tax, but it would help get at capital gains, which are an extraordinarily large part of the incomes of the wealthiest individuals and right now escape taxation until they're realized," Yellen said.

.@SecYellen on the proposed tax which would pay for the Build Back Better act: "It's not a wealth tax, but a tax on… https://t.co/NSkcnMNMnV

— The Hill (@thehill) 1635118260.0

According to the New York Times, the policy is currently being put together by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), who heads the Senate Finance Committee. It is expected to be unveiled sometime this week.

"It would affect people with $1 billion in assets or those who have reported at least $100 million in income for three consecutive years," the Times reported, adding that "Democrats hope it would generate at least $200 billion in revenue over a decade."

Yet even $200 billion is only a drop in the bucket compared to the total price tag of Biden's proposal, which now sits at roughly $2 trillion, according to reports.

The proposal started at $3.5 trillion but has required significant downsizing in recent weeks due to opposition to the proposal from members within Biden's own party — including Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.).

The bill's stagnation in Congress has left proponents scrambling to find agreeable ways to pay for it. But it remains to be seen whether a tax on unrealized capital gains will be acceptable to moderate Democrats.

The tax is certainly not popular with Republicans. During an interview with Mark Levin on Sunday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) called the idea extremely problematic.

"Part of their strategy right now is not only to increase the tax rates but to find new ways to generate revenue from revenue that is not [in] your account yet," Scott said. "That is something that is not just problematic. That is something that actually discourages the system itself."

"We can't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs," Scott continued, adding, "This administration is antithetical to all things free enterprise, hoping for liberty and justice for all."

MSNBC hosts laugh at White House claim that massive spending bill will cost zero



A MSNBC hosts laughed and scoffed at the justification offered by the White House to explain why the Democrats' proposed massive spending bill won't cost anything.

Stephanie Ruhle was discussing her interview with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen with her co-host when she scoffed at the creative accounting practices of the Biden administration.

"She did say, she does believe this thing is fully paid for, right, she's not supposed to sell policy," said Ruhle.

"She's the one who knows the math and she argues, yes it's raising taxes, but that tax gap, right, they want to fund the IRS, you don't have to change any of the tax laws, you just have to enforce them," she continued.

"She argues that over the next ten years there's ten trillion dollars that can be collected!" Ruhle exclaimed.

"Yeah and that's why the White House says, this infrastructure bill, the sum total of it, they say it's zero, they argue it's all paid for," laughed her co-host. "I see you shaking your head."

"Th—that's a mathematics that I am not yet familiar with, but um, we'll see," replied Ruhle.

"They have a very ambitious plan," she concluded.

Republicans and other critics of the Biden administration have decried their claim that trillions of dollars in new spending will amount to zero because it will all be paid for.

"It's a tough thing to prove," laughed Larry Kudlow, former Trump admin. economic advisor, "you might even call it a falsehood, alright?"

Kudlow went on to say that by the accounting by the House Budget Committee, the proposed spending of former President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan would cost about $4.3 trillion, while raising only $2 trillion in taxes according to the Ways and Means Committee.

"Save America, kill the bill, kill all of it!" Kudlow continued. "This is totally unnecessary and do great damage to the country."

Here's Kudlow's comments on the zero cost Biden budget:

Kudlow: Biden claiming spending plan 'costs zero dollars' a falsehoodwww.youtube.com