A Surtax on Millionaires

[LogicalFlawDetector]

If it hadn't been for tax-payer funded healthcare for Congressmen this asswipe would have been denied coverage by a private corporation for being a dickwad and probably be dead by now. One more reason to oppose government-run healthcare.

[ASLforever100]

Very good to speak out against tax break.

[judyleasugar97]

Tax them. If the 2 percent wealthiest continue to accumulate the kind of wealth they have been they will be able to buy all our lawmakers.

[CoreEnergyFitness]

There is evil in the heart of men and they are called republicans!

[grandfoundation1]

Write in vote for SANDERS IN 2012! Thank you God for Bernie Sanders...

[DiscoverTheTruth12]

Why don't we have more Senators like Bernie who always, always stand up

for the people!

GOD Bless the Bernie Sanders of the world !

The GOP should be ashamed at their trying to "fix" the deficit on the

backs of the neediest of people.

[PhilipPorter]

Is Senator Sanders actually attempting to appeal to Republican morals???

Good luck Senator but they have none. They couldn`t move further right and have lesser morals without becoming fascists!

[noonej]

5 dislikes? I wonder if the GOP has a few people on the payroll whose full job is to "thumbs down" videos like this. Wouldn't doubt it!

[lithiusx]

News flash, sanders changed his vote to repeal the patriot act. Ron Paul 2012.

[StepUPNJ]

@aCombatBaby Move us forward? They have done nothing but waste money and move us backward. "DOEDU" is really quite appropriate..its just a bunch of doe doo that returns 25 cents on the dollar back to the states and school districts. Ever since its inception the status of our educational system in the world has dropped like a stone.

DOE was supposed to make us more energy independent. How is that working out for you?

[wasp9]

As much as this guy deserves to be president, sadly he isn't "pretty" enough to be a modern president. Sad, vain state of affairs in America.

[laurenmichellekinsey]

He's talking about fairness, justice, and equality. He's talking about compassion, empathy, and morality. Thank you Sen. Bernie Sanders!

[Zeratul723]

Sanders/Kucinich 2012.

Period.

[alc99]

Bernie doesn't understand economics or business:

Google "Clueless Senator from Vermont"



[caucasianjake]

@alc99 neither do you apparently. I mean, you're trying to convince people of something by having them search key words on Google...??

[StepUPNJ]

50 Billion a year?? That is a joke. That reduces the deficit from 1.65 trillion to 1.6 trillion.

How about eliminating the bloated, wasteful department of education. 70 Billion. And then the departments of energy, labor, agriculture, homeland security, commerce and transportation.

Just for starters. Then cut the military budget IN HALF.

There...a balanced budget. And not, Mr Sanders, on the part of the poor, but rather on the part of military complex and corporate lobbies.

[Yellownealy]

@StepUPNJ Yeah because eliminating the department of education won't have catastrophic consequences >.>

[judyleasugar97]

@StepUPNJ: The only thing I agree with there is cut the military. Why not raise taxes on the 2 percent wealthiest? That would solve the deficit and they are doing nothing for job creation.

[Xareal]

The only joke here is your comment.

[jmjfanss]

@StepUPNJ

You tell em!

[cassiejor]

@StepUPNJ

Fine, cut the military budget in half. I agree with that. Everything else you suggest to cut is ridiculous. You really don't have a firm grasp of the role of the federal government.

[beckyfuge]

@cassiejor Funding the military is one of two funds written into the constitution. The other being the general welfare of the people.

[mlkelly1832]

How about our so called representatives pay into Social Security, Medicare and other services that we pay for them to benefit from? A millionaire's tax...sure! But how about instead of taking away from everyone, you start paying your way?

[dlthiessen]

Gee lets take from the rich and give to the poor!

Lets redistribute the wealth.

Lets see the Communist have tried that and lost.

Duh! How dumb are you?

[grasd2]

@dlthiessen America redistributed the wealth massively from the end of World War 2 until Reagan went into office and started class warfare against everyone but the top 1%. If you knew any history, you would know that the rich were taxed in upwards of 90% in that period. So you're saying that America was communist then? I'd say wealth redistribution worked really well for America but we got away from it once the greedy super wealthy became a huge part of the political process

[Fusionx916]

when are the rednecks going to wake up

[TheKaos007]

Yeah lets play the class warfare thing..LOL

[angeleyes6969]

not quite ron paul, more idealistic and who is that guy in the background....

[SBlackmare]

@angeleyes6969 Thank the stars he's not Ron "we all work for rich people" Paul. Bernie has studied and made trips to European countries that are more successful than the U.S. and is simply trying to bring some sense to our system.

[nkdmansam]

why is there only one of this guy? Can we clone him and bring him to NY?

[AZWozzeck]

Yes, yes! Thank you! :D

[HulksHeroes]

God bless this man! Why can HE stand up and speak the obvious, and not be afraid; while the rest of the Senators sit on their hands and hide their heads in the sand? BECAUSE HE is not beholding to the lobbyists and their contributions to his re-election campaigns.

In other words....HE is not a crook.

[merryprank]

God bless Senator Sanders for upholding the tenets of Christianity when so few in politics today do.

[upheavaltm]

Thank you!

[neujack]

This would be a good idea if it weren't for the fact that Congress is basically owned by billionaires.

[milio35]

As long as it is only on annual income for the tax year, and not on what they may have saved in personal riches before that year (which is another issue!), I think this is a very reasonable idea, that almost NO ONE should logically be able to argue with. Of course, that means the ultra-rich conservatives will argue with it.

[musicboxted]

Bank of America and Exxon don't pay income tax. Both have /are subsidized by the American people. Medical insurance costs as much as a mortgage for a small family. The food you buy at the supermarket is slowly killing you. American manufacturing has been shipped overseas. The pharmaceutical industry is making gobs of money by selling your children behavior modifying drugs. GO BERNIE!

[getplaning]

This is a step in the right direction. Many countries have what is called Patrimony Tax, also called wealth tax. It is a small tax on net worth above a certain level. The higher the net worth, the higher the tax. Below a certain level, Patrimony Tax is not applied. It is fair, simple, and easy to enforce.

The benefits are too many to list w/ only 500 characters. Read up on it.

[reasonjr1960]

Hey Bernie, do you ever feel like you are the only one working or who cares in Washington now days? I was just wondering because that is how I feel. Thanks for showing that there is still one intelligent, sain individual left. I can't help but tell you this even if I'm grasping at straws out of thin air, but we really need someone like you to run for President and help get this country out of other countries. I am completely serious! Thanks for what you do.

[MyTemporaryAccount88]

How much the rich spend is related to the market, not their tax rates, but the correlation found there is a lower tax rate means the rich save more money. The rich save more money = the economy slows down. Raise their taxes, and they spend more money.

So it makes all the sense in the world. Stop listening to what conservatives tell you on TV, read articles on real analysis, like

"Rich Americans Save Tax Cuts Instead of Spending, Moody's Says" &

"Non-US groups reaped fruits of Bush tax cuts"

[rebecaha]

Is Bernie Sanders the only politician that hasn't been bought off by the very wealthy? Corruption and Corporate Welfare needs to be criminalized. The only people that have benefited from our government, is the very wealthy, for the last 30 years.

[MaiaRikae]

*applause*

[tomofnorthcal]

The rich have been making the millions off of government projects since before the Civil war. Stop welfare for the rich.

[remmett70]

This is a great theory. The problem is. It won't work. The one thing about those on the top is. They don't accept losses. They will make there money first. So they will either just take a bigger percentage to cover what they lose in tax. In the end, what you take from the top will be funneled to the rest of us.

[ediggs504boys]

glazier: do u mean all those on the welfare roles smokn weed and makn babies.

[GWhizVideo]

Bravo! Somebody in congress is listening. Its a step in the right direction. But, if a flat 5.4% tax would get us $50 Billion a year, what if the tax had a scheduled increase on up into the higher ranges of income. The few individuals making $10 mill a year or $100 mil have plenty of money. That's why they're rich. They got rich exploiting lots of people along the way, getting little guys like us to work for peanuts while they made out like bandits. I think its time they do their share!

[Royalstandard]

Absolute idiot. Stealing money from people who have been smart enough to be successful is just plain wrong. That money belongs to the people who earned it, NOT the government. Perhaps the 3.2 TRILLION "stimulus"package that created basically NO jobs should be given more scrutiny. This government spends money on absolutely nothing and then cries when someone wants to cut them off. Sending billions to aid Libya is stupid. Gouging the pockets of successful people to fund this garbage is immoral.

[RogueAutomotive]

@Royalstandard ...your an idiot, absolutely no facts in your statement except the fact there was a stimulus.

[Theman101289]

@RogueAutomotive Typical Straw man argument.

Ok the stimulus was 800billion roughly. STILL, the government has no right to STEAL people's money. The income tax is a joke, it works with the assumption that the government owns ALL you labor, and therefore income, and then chooses how much you keep.

This is in direct conflict with the constitution.

[RogueAutomotive]

@Theman101289 The income tax is constitutional. The government provides infrastructure, education, etc. The tax helps covers these costs. They don't "steal" your money, you earn money because the infrastructure is there for you to do so. If it wasn't for the government most people wouldn't have a job or business costs would be so high they couldn't operate. If you don't like income taxes you obviously don't respect the services the government provides. The rich earn more, so they get taxed more

[Theman101289]

@RogueAutomotive

The US became the most productive industrial nation WITHOUT an income tax.

The income tax amendment (16) ratification is HIGHLY questionable. Look into it yourself.

I don't appreciate the services government provides because it is coercive and most are unconstitutional, and ineffective especially dept of education under which our education ssytem has crumbled, and dept of energy, under which US is more dependent on foreign oil.

[Theman101289]

@RogueAutomotive I don't respect "services" that the taxes are spent on like interest to the private Federal Reserve banks.

Excessive and unnecessary Military spending (not defense,MILITARY) invading sovereign nations

And $1.5+ trillion spent on transfer payments which is not only theft, but just stupid and ineffective because they built up a dependency for people on SS/medicare, now that the gov blew the money, reliant citizens will get NOTHING.

death & taxes....where's life and LIBERTY?

[Theman101289]

@Theman101289

We need more FREE markets and capitalism and the rule of law.

NOT corporatism...but actual capitalism.

We can start by throwing the wall street criminals in jail, &shutting down the federal reserve system

The main problem is the lack of respect for the rule of law, whether it be banking criminals committing and admitting and getting away with pernicious fraud, OR citizens lobbying their government to STEAL the wealth from others

Socialism & corporatism are equally bad.

[glazierEd]

@Royalstandard Did you take your Aricept today? Your sounding confused again. "Smart enough to EARN it? like the crew on wall street ? Oh by the way, Bush brought us tarp and the first round of stimulus spending, and doubled the deficit during his two terms. Oh and he also lost jobs for eight years as opposed to the twenty million gained by his predecessor. Go to bed and maybe in the morning you will be rational.

[Theman101289]

@glazierEd

Be rational? LOL. There is nothing rational about violating people's property rights by stealing their money.

The US is a nation of laws, where people are treated equal under the LAW....not differently because they're "rich". This is total nonsense.

Bush was a pathetic joke of a president, and obama is as well because he has the same essential policies as Bush

The Federal Reserve is responsible for the economic depression but both parties keep giving these criminals more power

[glazierEd]

@Theman101289 The republicans have it wrong, The American People want them to cut the deficit. thats why their in office now. Stealing? Now I'm LOL. Its called "shared sacrifice" Yes they are treated differently. Do you know what the wealthy paid percentage wise in the 1950s? Look it up. Its fair, they yucked it up for the past fifteen years at the party that the middle class wasn't invited to. Now the waiter is bringing the tab, and they want to hide under the table and leave it for us to pay.

[GWhizVideo]

@glazierEd It seems to me that the people that benefited the most should be asked to sacrifice the most to pay for their party.

[audhilly]

@Theman101289 repeal tax cuts that were meant to be temporary. Make everyone pay to play. Warren Buffett reality checked this. He had everyone who works for him put down what they make a year and what they pay in taxes a year. Turns out that the secretaries pay more tax than he does. Not just in percent, but real dollars. It's a crime.

[jmjfanss]

@Theman101289

Got that right.

[pgunn01]

@Royalstandard Since when are we talking about theft? We're talking taxation. Very different.

[GWhizVideo]

@Royalstandard Are you implying that the guy who works his whole life making stuff and taking care of his family and fighting for every dollar is less important than a rich guy simply because he's not rich? Being smart doesn't make you rich. Being ruthless makes you rich.

[JamminJames01]

The rich have been profiting from disaster capitalism for decades, getting the benefit of every "crisis." The economic crash, caused by rich bankers and Wall St greed, is another example. The rich benefit from the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the top 1 or 2 %. IT'S TIME THEY GAVE BACK!!!

[Macogma]

A-Freakin'-MEN Brother'!

[whisper99]

Thank you Bernie! Yes, we get it and thank you for getting it too!

[judyleasugar97]

I'm deeply troubled by what's happening in this country. It seemed in the past the conservatives cared to some degree about public opinion. They don't seem to care about the unpopularity of their policies any more. They just do what they want. I fear fascism is waiting in the wings. We'd better all get out and vote next time or else!

[rachieeeee]

Only 300 people have seen this?? It needs to go VIRAL!!!

[TheDawnStott]

Behind every fortune is a great crime.  Tax the rich.

[amiblue2]

This guy makes far too much sense! I guess it just blows the public's mind!

[ppink]

Senator Sanders, thank you for your continued efforts on our behalf....I wish there were more people in government like you. XO

[dontbelivewhatyourea]

I wish him a long career and a long, healthy life! Bless him!

[Kiddolinfen09]

The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich. The Mega-rich.

[goatduck64]

This guy is my hero!

[beckyboomerang]

Thank you for representing me Senator Sanders!

[tcdowning666]

SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT!!! 2012

[wtfSATAN]

@tcdowning666 umm no he's way too old.

[captcrais101]

@tcdowning666 Too bad Sen Sanders has said he will not run in 2012.

[Fritson]

Bravo Mr Sanders,...it's obvious that you work for We The People,...not like the others who are all taking orders from the WAR Machines who are working for the totally corrupted (Military-Industrial-Congress-­President_Supreme-court-CIA-FB­I) Complex.

Thank you,

[ShadowCrashed81]

Mr. Sanders, I just want to shake your hand.

[jonnysouthjersey]

Bernie is one in a hundred. It would be better if he had the support of the other 99. Bernie makes sense and tells the truth, the others, not so much.

[WilhelmScreamer]

Yay Bernie!

[Samyaza1]

Bernie understands equality. I wish his "colleagues" did.

[gggreggg]

right on, bernie

why not include closing some of the hundreds of military installations around the world?

[gggreggg]

right on, bernie