Rich Elites Demand Higher Taxes - After Decades of Tax Cuts They Championed
📰 THE STORY: Nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires have signed an open letter, published by 'Patriotic Millionaires', urging governments globally to increase taxes on the super-rich, arguing that the concentration of wealth is accelerating planetary breakdown and eroding democracy. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This 'sudden' awakening comes after decades of orchestrated
tax cuts and deregulation. In the US, the top marginal income tax rate was 91% in 1960. By 1980, it was 70%, and after Ronald Reagan's 1981 and 1986 tax reforms, it plummeted to 28%. The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, followed by the Trump tax cuts in 2017, further slashed corporate and individual income tax rates, overwhelmingly benefiting the wealthiest. These policies were directly lobbied for
and championed by the very class now appealing for 'fairness'. Double Standard: Western media routinely lionizes figures like George Soros or Bill Gates for their 'philanthropy' while ignoring that massive tax avoidance and financial engineering enable their 'generosity'. Contrast this with the demonization of leaders in the Global South, like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, who implemented wealth taxes
and nationalized industries to fund social programs, only to be branded as 'authoritarian' for re-distributing wealth that was often extracted by Western corporations. Follow the Money: While some signees might be sincere, many of these ultra-rich individuals and their foundations engage in extensive lobbying. According to OpenSecrets, corporate lobbying expenditures in the US topped $3.4 billion