A child’s guide to why billionaires should, in fact, exist



Americans have largely rejected the left’s silly, childish push for communist ideology over the past 15 years or so. But some of these folks refuse to move on.

In a recent post on X, Melanie D’Arrigo, the executive director of the Campaign for New York Health and vice president of legislation at the New York National Organization for Women, repeated several long-debunked talking points:

If we capped wealth at $999,999,999 we could invest almost $5.9 trillion into improving our country.
And if you’re upset at transferring wealth down, why are you ok with how we pass laws to transfer wealth up— from the working class to billionaires?
Billionaires shouldn’t exist.

Since this is the equivalent of a toddler’s rant, I thought I would provide a toddler’s guide to why billionaires should, in fact, exist.

Mommy, why are there billionaires?

The label of “billionaire” is nothing more than an accounting of the net worth that someone has. But most billionaires aren’t swimming around in a room full of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck (which would be impossible anyway). They have most of their net worth tied up in owning a valuable business.

Typically, billionaires have established businesses that employ other people and provide goods and services that others want. Because consumers find those goods and services worthwhile, the business becomes more valuable. Based on the value at any point in time, the founder or manager’s share of that business could be “worth” a billion dollars or more. If it stopped providing value, it could be worthless.

Why should you or anyone else get to decide that someone has 'too much' wealth?

Billionaires exist most of the time because they created a lot of value for others, as well as themselves.

But aren’t billionaires bad?

Creating value is never a bad thing. Generating jobs and providing essential goods and services play a crucial role — arguably more important than most of what the government does these days!

Why can’t we just take away their money?

Taking someone’s money away is theft. Theft is wrong and a violation of your property rights, honey. Someone can’t just come in here and say you have too many toys and take some of them away. One can’t say that your room is too big and others need shelter, so you have to let strangers sleep in your room.

As Thomas Sowell said, “I have never understood why it is ‘greed’ to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.” It sounds like you are the one being greedy, sweetie!

But why can’t we just cap their money at $999,999,999?

You just made up that number. And the word you’re looking for is wealth. Why should you or anyone else get to decide that someone has “too much” wealth?

Also, incentives drive outcomes, so if you cap wealth, you limit the incentives for others to make investments, to innovate, and to provide important value to the world.

That money could help other people!

Wealth isn’t just other people’s money. In many cases, it isn’t money at all. Businesses provide value that benefits others.

More government funding hasn’t led to better results. Spending has increased over time, yet the only clear beneficiaries are government cronies!

America remains one of the most generous nations, donating more to charity than any other country in the world.

But it’s almost $6 trillion!

If you tried to take away billionaires' business stakes, the value of those businesses would go down, so you would never see the $6 trillion, and it would hurt the wealth of middle-class Americans whose pensions and 401Ks are invested in the stocks of those companies.

Also, the U.S. government spent almost $7 trillion last year, so taking that money wouldn’t fund the government for even a year, and then where would the government get money the next year?

Your arguments truly make no sense — which I guess is understandable since you are a toddler.

I don’t care! Billionaires shouldn’t exist!

Adults who use toddler logic shouldn’t exist, but here we are. Now, go eat your vegetables.

I hope this guide proves useful when Bernie Sanders, Robert Reich, Melanie D’Arrigo, or someone else presents a toddler-level argument about billionaires.

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Biden’s budget wages war on wealth



Like everything else emerging from this economically and morally bankrupt administration, Joe Biden’s campaign promises disguised as a budget are packed with lies and destruction. While presidential budgets typically don’t survive Congress, Biden’s $7.3 trillion spending proposal offers a glimpse into the tactics the Democrats will use to come after your wealth, and it should scare the heck out of you.

The White House says the budget is aimed in part at “lowering costs and giving families more breathing room,” which is weird and inconsiderate gaslighting of struggling middle- and working-class Americans. While the rate of increase in prices has come off its June 2022 peak of 9.1%, costs remain high, and families are still stressed.

Americans need to wake up or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.

Assuming Biden’s insane proposals did not undermine the economy and send interest rates skyrocketing, his budget would add trillions to the national debt, bringing it to $45.1 trillion in the next decade under the rosiest of scenarios.

Biden proposes the largest tax increase in history on the people who pay the lion’s share of federal taxes, all in the name of “fairness,” of course.

He also wants to hike the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, an effort that may sound appealing but would likely make America’s corporate landscape less competitive. And taxes are never paid by corporations themselves. Businesses pass the additional burden along to employees and consumers, who are suffering enough already.

These proposals, should they take hold, would not only have a material adverse effect on the economy but of course would be benchmarked for everyone so that government will be set up to steal more and more of your wealth to pay for its own power-grab.

Capital gains in the crosshairs

One of the most egregious proposed shifts is changing the capital gains rate to an ordinary income rate. Capital gains are what you pay on money you risk, which has already been taxed, should there be an increase. The proposal starts with people earning $1 million or more a year. Not only would that have a massive impact on capital allocation and liquidity, but once in place for higher-income earners, it could easily creep down to middle-class brackets. It’s happened before and could easily happen again.

Changing the capital gains tax rate could also impose a massive penalty on family businesses when they have a once-in-a-lifetime exit.

Biden also sows class division by conflating wealth and income. Another White House budget “fact sheet” repeats the lie that “billionaires make their money in ways that are often taxed at lower rates than ordinary wage income, or sometimes not taxed at all.” As a result, the administration claims, “many of these wealthy Americans are able pay an average income tax rate of just 8 percent on their full incomes — a lower rate than many firefighters or teachers.”

Now, if you are wondering how billionaires end up with an 8% income tax rate — because that sounds amazing — they do not. The claim originated with a White House “study” that purported to examine “income from unsold stock.” What on earth does that mean? Tax rates on qualified dividends are 0%, 15%, and 20%, depending on income. So what are they talking about?

Not surprisingly, it is unrealized stock appreciation at a given point in time. This is a made-up proxy for a wealth tax. This is not how income tax works, and it is a straight-up lie to say this is an actual income tax rate for billionaires and portray it as the average tax rate of the “wealthiest.”

Property rights in peril

But why expect any truth from this administration? Why expect any fiscal discipline? And why expect anything other than trying to grab more of our wealth to secure governmental power?

While many Americans may be inclined to support higher taxes on billionaires, don’t be fooled. It’s a trick to get you to surrender your property rights. The billionaires will find other loopholes. Middle- and working-class wealth will be vulnerable to government plunder. (To understand the threat in detail, read my recent book, “You Will Own Nothing.”)

The Biden administration is proposing trillions of dollars in government spending as a means of “helping the middle class.” You’ve seen what government help has done to your quality of life, and you can’t afford any more.

Speaking of affordability, the administration laughably claims its budget will make college more affordable through larger Pell Grants. More government spending doesn’t cut costs; it simply creates another mechanism for colleges to raise tuition, making college less affordable.

With the national debt projected to top $45.1 trillion, it’s clear that any promise to “cut the deficit” is more than a joke. It’s a recipe for financial ruin.

While presidential budgets are never realistic or final, it’s a good reminder that this administration only cares about preserving power and expanding government, rather than securing the American dream or restoring our financial foundation. Americans need to wake up, or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.

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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."

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