On Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Act, a bill that "would tax the $731 billion in wealth accumulated by 467 billionaires—the richest 0.001% of America—a from March 18th until August 5th, a period in which 5.4 million Americans recently lost their health insurance and 50 million applied for unemployment insurance. The funds from this emergency tax would be used to cover all necessary healthcare expenses of the uninsured and underinsured, including prescription drugs, for one year." In introducing the bill, Sanders released the following statement:
"The legislation I am introducing today will tax the obscene wealth gains billionaires have made during this extraordinary crisis to guarantee healthcare as a right to all for an entire year. At a time of enormous economic pain and suffering, we have a fundamental choice to make. We can continue to allow the very rich to get much richer while everyone else gets poorer and poorer. Or we can tax the winnings a handful of billionaires made during the pandemic to improve the health and well-being of tens of millions of Americans. In my view, it is time for the Senate to act on behalf of the working class who are hurting like they have never hurt before, not the billionaire class who are doing phenomenally well and have never had it so good."
Additionally, the Vermont senator's office cited research from Americans for Tax Fairness, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that found that the proposed wealth tax would generate enough revenue "to empower Medicare to pay all of the out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for everyone in America over the next 12 months."
Sanders introduced the bill alongside fellow Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Ed Markey (D-MA). Noticeably absent from the list of cosponsors is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sanders's former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. Her absence from the list is notable because a central theme of her presidential campaign was instituting a "two cents" wealth tax, with her calling out billionaires who opposed it.
In addition, the Massachusetts senator's online merchandise store includes a coffee mug with "BILLIONAIRE TEARS" written on it, with the following description: "In November 2019, billionaire and former Goldman Sachs executive Leon Cooperman (who as recently as 2017 settled with the SEC on insider-trading charges) was brought to tears on live television while discussing the prospect that a President Elizabeth Warren might require him to pay his fair share in taxes. Savor a warm, slightly salty beverage of your choice in this union-made mug as you contemplate all the good a wealth tax could do: universal childcare, student debt cancellation, universal free college, and more."
Given the senator's bashing of billionaires on the campaign trail, it begs the question: why hasn't she cosponsored Sanders's bill?
Among the billionaires who have seen their wealth increase dramatically throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the ones Sanders singles out by name are Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, Facebook co-founder and chairman Mark Zuckerberg, and the Walton family, the founders of Walmart, and whose company owns a 50% stake in it. During her 2018 Senate re-election campaign, Warren's donors included several leadership PACs that, in turn, took money from these companies:
Common Ground PAC: Sen. Tim Kaine's (D-VA) leadership PAC contributed $10,000 to Warren in 2018. During that same election cycle, it took $2,000 from Walmart.
Impact: Warren received $10,000 from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) leadership PAC, as the group itself received $10,000 from Facebook, $5,000 from Amazon, $5,000 from Walmart, and $2,500 from SpaceX.
Midwest Values PAC: Former Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) leadership PAC gave $10,000 to Warren, as it raked in $1,000 from Amazon.
M-PAC: Sen. Patty Murray's (D-WA) leadership PAC accepted $5,000 from Amazon, $5,000 from SpaceX, and $2,500 from Facebook, as Warren took $10,000 from the group.
All for Our Country: Warren received $5,000 from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto's (D-NV) leadership PAC, as the group took $5,000 from Amazon, $5,000 from Walmart, and $2,500 from SpaceX.
Common Sense Colorado: Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-CO) leadership PAC raked in $5,000 from Facebook, $5,000 from Walmart, and $2,500 from Amazon, as the group contributed $5,000 to Warren.
Forward Together PAC: Amazon donated $10,000 to Sen. Mark Warner's (D-VA) leadership PAC, as Warren received $5,000 from the group.
Holding Onto Oregon's Priorities: As Warren accepted $5,000 from Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-OR) leadership PAC, the group received $5,000 from Facebook, $2,500 from Amazon, and $1,000 from SpaceX.
Treasure State PAC: As Facebook and Walmart respectively donated $5,000 and $1,000 to Sen. Jon Tester's (D-MT) leadership PAC, Warren received $5,000 from the group.
Narragansett Bay PAC: Sen. Jack Reed's (D-RI) leadership PAC gave $4,000 to Warren, as it received $5,000 from Amazon.
In addition, throughout her political career, despite her rhetoric, Warren has taken campaign contributions from a handful of billionaires.
Regarding the two senators who have cosponsored Sanders's bill, Gillibrand stated that the proposal "will help support workers and families dealing with job losses, food insecurity, housing instability and health care. Not only is this a common-sense proposal, but it’s a moral one and Congress should be doing all we can to assist Americans struggling right now."
Meanwhile, Markey called it "unconscionable that the super-wealthy are getting even richer in the midst of this crisis," given the millions of Americans that have lost their jobs and the more than 160,000 that have died during the pandemic.
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