Bernie Sanders offers bill to tax Billionaires wealth gains during pandemic

[Torie]

This is perhaps just about the worst idea introduced into the public square in a very long time. Take a snap shot in time to tax the unrecognized gain, ignoring the prior losses, and stick it to a very select few, based on the administratively difficult if not near impossible task of calculating their wealth, many of whom might be tempted to decamp and renounce their citizenship to avoid the tax. The idea of course will go nowhere. I doubt if even Bernie himself takes this idea very seriously.

Having said that, the estate tax is too low, particularly inasmuch as you get a step up in tax basis, so any unrecognized gains upon death go away, and the deduction for giving money away to charity upon death to divert money away from the federal coffers is too high. But that is all too technical for those raging bulls who need a red bandanna waived in their face to get animated.

While we are at it, we should "defund" the police too. Do those in the vanguard of the revolution even know what the word "defund" means?

Meanwhile we keep exploring how much we can ratchet up the debt without interest rates taking off. If they do take off, then the roof will fall in. A couple of trillion here, and a couple of trillion there, and before you know it, we start talking about really money.