Bernie Sanders offers bill to tax Billionaires wealth gains during pandemic

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Anybody who was crying about a wealth tax last year looks like a damn fool. Bezos lost 25% of Amazon in a divorce and is richer today than he was before the divorce, He's also sold large chunks of his shares too and yet he's richer than ever. A wealth tax as proposed by Elizabeth Warren on 2% over $50 million and 6% over a billion is needed.

Regardless of whether you think a wealth tax is a good idea or not, and regardless of whether you would agree with the ruling or not, there's the little problem that it definitely would be ruled to be a direct tax by SCOTUS, effectively making such a tax a nightmare to administer.

Take for example, the following: I live in South Carolina. I own stock in a Delaware corporation that is traded on the NYSE. Does my property get counted as being in South Carolina, New York, or Delaware for purposes of apportionment when it is subject to a Federal direct tax?

There are plenty of other ways to tax the rich without having to deal with the constitutional problems of a wealth tax.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Are you even allowed to introduce ex post facto taxes like this?  I'm no legal expert but it seems to me that a tax is a penalty for an action and it's a violation of the 9th amendment to introduce penalties for actions that have already happened.

Ex post facto and taxes would only intersect if the due date for a tax were set prior to the date the tax was enacted into law.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Are you even allowed to introduce ex post facto taxes like this?  I'm no legal expert but it seems to me that a tax is a penalty for an action and it's a violation of the 9th amendment to introduce penalties for actions that have already happened.

Ex post facto and taxes would only intersect if the due date for a tax were set prior to the date the tax was enacted into law.

But the tax is on income collected prior to the date the tax was enacted into law, so if you have collected income you already have no way to avoid paying the tax.

To my eyes, it's similar to if you were to say that everyone who wore red socks this year is going to prison, but the roundups won't start until 2021.  It's already too late for me to escape the punishment for wearing red socks, which had no consequences at the time.

By that bizarre reasoning, it would be unconstitutional to ever increase the assessment or the millage rate on property tax.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

There are a variety of constitutional issues for a Federal wealth tax, but definitely not that it could be considered a bill of attainder. If they were, then State and local property taxes would be unconstitutional as bills of attainder are also prohibited to the States.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

There are a variety of constitutional issues for a Federal wealth tax, but definitely not that it could be considered a bill of attainder. If they were, then State and local property taxes would be unconstitutional as bills of attainder are also prohibited to the States.

No. Cause the state is taxing people at the same rate based on similar houses in the states, and local governments are taking people at the same rate as similar houses in the municipality.  If you choose to live in a municipality, you are obligating yourself to pay taxes for local services.  If you don't live within the municipality, then technically hey don't have to provide services

If the local government made you pay property taxes, and then forced you to pay $1,000 cause they didn't like that your house was blue, then that'a bill of attainder.   They are punishing you without due process.  If they had passed a law and sent you prison after you had just painted your house blue, then its ex pose facto because they criminalized behavior.  

So homestead exemptions for the elderly or the disabled are unconstitutional?

Taxing real estate differently based on how it's used is unconstitutional?

For that matter, non-flat income taxes are unconstitutional?

If your argument had any connection to reality, you'd essentially be making all three of the above claims, all of which would get laughed out of court.

I don't think Bernie's proposal is good policy, but we've had various excess profits taxes before and never have there been any successful complaints about their constitutionality.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Morons are still arguing against a wealth tax. Meanwhile Republicans are scheming on the next tax policy to rob public coffers and pass more wealth to the rich. They're going to index capital gains to inflation, something that will overwhelmingly benefit the top 1% of shareholders.

 The Republicans will probably get this policy passed too because Americans are bad at math, bad at understanding how policy impacts their everyday lives, and have been brainwashed to be billionaire worshipers.

 Trump is even talking about doing this by executive order and bypassing Congress.

 

Are you really complaining that arguing about a wealth tax is a moronic distraction?  You are the one who brought it up!

 Yes because during the Democratic debates people said insane and crazy things about how Democratic ideas were unaffordable or would somehow bankrupt the economy. And since then we've seen that the economy is truly driven by workers including the poorest of workers, The United States Government can find tremendous resources whenever it wants to bailout businesses and the wealthy, the rate of income inequality is out of control. Our tax code is a total failure, with the IRS given poor resources to even try to enforce the laws on the books.

 It's time to stop debate on a wealth tax, it's obviously needed. Because while Republicans and way too many Democrats are stilling drinking the billionaire's Kool-aid, the Republicans are already scheming the next evisceration of the tax code to funnel more wealth to the wealthiest. So let's all agree that a wealth tax is necessary and find the best way to implement it.

It's called the estate tax.

Reasonably easy to adminster, and doesn't have any constitutional difficulties.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Morons are still arguing against a wealth tax. Meanwhile Republicans are scheming on the next tax policy to rob public coffers and pass more wealth to the rich. They're going to index capital gains to inflation, something that will overwhelmingly benefit the top 1% of shareholders.

 The Republicans will probably get this policy passed too because Americans are bad at math, bad at understanding how policy impacts their everyday lives, and have been brainwashed to be billionaire worshipers.

 Trump is even talking about doing this by executive order and bypassing Congress.

 

Are you really complaining that arguing about a wealth tax is a moronic distraction?  You are the one who brought it up!

 Yes because during the Democratic debates people said insane and crazy things about how Democratic ideas were unaffordable or would somehow bankrupt the economy. And since then we've seen that the economy is truly driven by workers including the poorest of workers, The United States Government can find tremendous resources whenever it wants to bailout businesses and the wealthy, the rate of income inequality is out of control. Our tax code is a total failure, with the IRS given poor resources to even try to enforce the laws on the books.

 It's time to stop debate on a wealth tax, it's obviously needed. Because while Republicans and way too many Democrats are stilling drinking the billionaire's Kool-aid, the Republicans are already scheming the next evisceration of the tax code to funnel more wealth to the wealthiest. So let's all agree that a wealth tax is necessary and find the best way to implement it.

It's called the estate tax.

Reasonably easy to adminster, and doesn't have any constitutional difficulties.

 We already have a tax code that has crippled the estate tax with all types of loopholes and tax shelter structures. It also does nothing to address rampant wealth inequality now.

Then get rid of the loopholes. If you say it can't be done politically, then what makes you think a Federal property tax won't be similarly riddled within a few years?