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Title: Donald Trump once proposed a more left-wing tax policy than Bernie Sanders
Source:
Vox
URL Source: http://www.vox.com/2015/3/18/8244115/donald-trump-wealth-tax
Published: Jul 7, 2015
Author: Dylan Matthews
Post Date: 2015-07-07 09:48:19 by cranko
Keywords: None
Views: 14668
Comments: 39
In 1999 and 2000, he considered a bid for the nomination of Ross Perot's Reform Party, which was at the height of its influence after Jesse Ventura won the Minnesota governorship in 1998 as a Reform candidate. Trump's big idea was a one-time wealth tax of 14.25 percent on all individuals and trusts with a net worth in excess of $10 million. The proceeds would be used to wipe out the national debt, with the savings in interest payments going to shore up Social Security and pay for middle-class tax cuts. This is a totally insane idea for a whole variety of reasons, many of which Bruce Bartlett ran through in the Wall Street Journal at the time. The tax wouldn't raise nearly as much as Trump thought it would, it'd encourage massive evasion, and it'd force huge sell-offs of stock and other assets, leading to, as Bartlett writes, the "liquidation of thousands of businesses." "We must have universal healthcare," wrote Trump. "I'm a conservative on most issues but a liberal on this one. We should not hear so many stories of families ruined by healthcare expenses." The goal of health care reform, wrote Trump, should be a system that looks a lot like Canada. "Doctors might be paid less than they are now, as is the case in Canada, but they would be able to treat more patients because of the reduction in their paperwork," he writes. /cdn0
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The wealth tax isn't the only left-wing proposal Trump has flirted with over the years, either. He also used to be a fan of Canadian-style single-payer health care.
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#13. To: cranko (#0)
Trump's idea of a Wealth Tax was right, as was his idea of paying off the national debt and using the interest savings to improve services, but his implementation of it: 14.25% of the top wealth, was a bad idea. Too draconian. What we really need is about a 2% gross wealth tax, without deductions, that hits ALL wealth, bottom to top, at the same rate. And the gross wealth tax should REPLACE income, Social Security, property, sales and all other taxes. In other words, expand the base to cover EVERYTHING, tax EVERYTHING, at a very low rate, and do away with the complex jungle of piecemeal taxation. It's the fairest tax of all. Therefore, of course the Republicans and Democrats will hate it - because it doesn't give breaks to their prized constituents at the top, and because it taxes the FIRST dollar of their poorest constituents at the bottom. All in, from everybody, at the rate of 2 cents. Trump didn't propose that, but had he, then his logic was good. Trump is also right about health insurance. It should be universal and single payer, like in France.
#30. To: Vicomte13 (#13)
First, determining someone's "wealth" is not an easy thing to do. Are you proposing an army of government furniture, clothing, jewelry, and gadget assessors to inspect people's homes during tax season? Second, most people's wealth is tied up in illiquid assets like homes and business properties. What happens to small business people who have modest incomes but property values that have escalated dramatically over the years? Do you force them to sell their business because they can't pay the tax? I think a better approach is a transaction tax on all B2B and C2B transactions, including the purchase of stocks and bonds. Only bank savings and checking transactions would be exempt. Someone did a study a few years ago which showed that a 1.5% tax on all transactions would be enough to replace all federal taxes.
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Replies to Comment # 13. What we really need is about a 2% gross wealth tax, without deductions, that hits ALL wealth, bottom to top, at the same rate. And the gross wealth tax should REPLACE income, Social Security, property, sales and all other taxes. In other words, expand the base to cover EVERYTHING, tax EVERYTHING, at a very low rate, and do away with the complex jungle of piecemeal taxation.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
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