 So whenever the discussion of the wealth tax comes up, you can already anticipate CNBC having like oh Wigs worth of meltdowns and they may even invite on a billionaire or two Who will literally cry on national television at the mere thought of the wealth tax? It's not like it has any chance of passing in the near future But just the thought that anyone would want a wealth tax and that any politician would propose this is enough to bring At least one billionaire to tears I'm of course dunking on Leon Kuberman because I think that we should make fun of him for the rest of his pathetic life Having said that though, um, a non-guirardaridus was on CNBC and the host was pressing him to explain Why he would support the wealth tax when it very obviously is nothing more than a war on the wealthy It's a war on the rich. Why would you do this? Why would you penalize a minority in this country target them? When um, there are other ways to accomplish your goal. What a non did here was just Phenomenal you're in favor of Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax In fact, you make the argument that the numbers that she throws out may be too low When others come on this network who've done quite well for themselves and who are quite generous in their own right And say there are just better ways of doing things Why bog down the system with something new if you want to raise more taxes from the wealthy who by the way come on this network All the time and say the wealthy should pay more There are just better ways to do it close loopholes raise the capital gains tax Why a wealth tax which seems to be a war on the wealthy? It's not a war on the wealthy it went when regular people across this country pay property taxes on their house Which is a tax on their wealth not their income. No one calls that a war on them it just so happens that very rich people have most of their wealth in things other than one home and a Wealth tax is far from a war the war if anything has been waged Punching down on the middle class and working class and poor people of this country for a generation The idea that a wealth tax is is an act of hostility or is an act of vengeance when it's in fact An act of sound economic policy is laughable and I'll explain There's an economic rationale for it Which is that it would be great to have that money lying around to actually reinvest in the commons Which has been defanged defunded and delegitimize in this country in child care universal child care in health care in Education things like that, but there's a second reason Scott, which is There is actually and I know this is CNBC But even without the funding issue There is actually an argument to be made that there is a certain level of absolute wealth Beyond which people are simply just by breathing too powerful to exist in a Democracy that still thinks it's a democracy because simply by acting spending that money They are exerting power that is inconsistent with one person one vote I think Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax is a great idea Bernie Sanders had a great proposal for a short-term pandemic one a more general I know you think it's a great idea all of them are too small We need an erosive well tax that would shrink those fortunes and put some eros back in the economy So I don't have much to add because I think that a non did a phenomenal job here But I do have a couple more points that I want to put in to supplement his argument first of all he talks about how look I bring on billionaires on my program and They all tell me the same thing that they think that they're paying, you know too low of taxes They want their taxes to be increased So why would you pursue this wealth tax that just seems like overly confiscatory and just punitive? First of all, let me just say that that CNBC host should be ashamed of himself Like what a fucking bootlicker like this goes beyond bootlicking like he's deep-throating the boot He's choking on the boot and he should be embarrassed with himself But I mean here's the thing that he should be asking his billionaire guests Why is it that you store your wealth on offshore bank accounts? Why is it that in the event we were to pass more taxes on you? You just hire more lawyers to your already gigantic team to find ways to exploit the tax code Like you say one thing, but you do another it's almost like you're full of shit and that the wealth tax actually would meaningfully Take the wealth that you own away from you. I Mean CNBC is a network by and for elites But even they have to feel bad with how disingenuous they are and it's funny like when they actually talk to someone who knows his shit They have no response So if it is the case that we accept that the wealth tax is a war on the wealthy War on the rich then why don't we call property taxes the same thing? Why is it that all of a sudden we're changing the language that we use when it comes to wealth owned by billionaires? But most working-class and middle-class Americans if they're going to own any wealth, it's going to be in a home So that property tax you're not crying over that but you're crying over the wealth tax of like 2% Give me a fucking break. Give me a fucking break so that was a phenomenal point that Anand brought up there and You know this prospect of oh, well, there's this war on the rich that you want to wage He makes it seem as if that's bad, but a war on the rich That's like a good thing You shouldn't mention it because that's a really good idea actually if you don't want war on the rich because what the rich Has done throughout the past decades is they've waged a war on the poor They've effectively shifted the tax burden away from them and onto the working-class and look what that has done in America Look what that's done to society So for you to make it seem as if it's inherently bad to wage a war against elites We absolutely should be targeting them going after them and bullying them Because what they've done to American society is Unacceptable and you can make the case that you shouldn't go after individuals and that institutions are more important Sure, that's fine. I hear you but Anand also makes the point that when we are in a capitalist system to have wealth You have power if you have that much wealth There's a reason why policy outcomes reflect Elites and special interests and not working-class Americans This is according to a 2014 Princeton University study by doctors guns and page It's because they have money to buy politicians lobby the government get what they want where as working Americans They can't do that. So in a capitalist society wealth equals power So it's not just that they have too much wealth and the distribution needs to change It's that that much wealth is not conducive to a healthy Democracy and Anand makes the point that you know if we take the money that these elites have and don't need with this Wealth tax we could then redistribute those resources to fund better public programs Except you don't even have to do that like modern monetary theorists would argue that you don't even have to tax the rich in Order to you know fund social safety net programs But I would argue that you can make that case if you think it's more persuasive and you're gonna like convince more people But the key issue here is that wealth equals power in a capitalist society and to be a billionaire Means that you have an inordinate amount of power It's not just one person one vote any longer like this has broader implications on democracy If you truly care about democracy, then you can't also simultaneously support the existence of billionaires because billionaires have more power than the working class and normal Americans and The power level must be equal if you truly want a democratic society. So that's all I'll say I'll leave that there I think that we should all save this clip from Anand because he showed us exactly what we have to say To dispute the wealth tax. It's not like arguing against it is hard Anyway, because like they don't really have an argument It's just hey, you're being mean to the rich stop discriminating and being begin it against rich people But like this really it like it takes it to the next level like Anand here it shows How foolish their argument against the wealth tax really is and it's just it's brilliant