Manchin’s up in 2024, and will very likely be retiring. You need to find a lot better targets for stuff like this.
primary joe manchin, I get that those two hate each other but good lord that’s last on things he’s gotta get around to doing.
Bernie hasn’t joined the democratic party yet.
Manchin’s already filed for re-election in 2024. Sure he can change his mind later.
its hard for me to hear ‘bernie isn’t a democrat’ when joe manchin is being discussed
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There is no need for a 5 day 40 hour work week. None. It’s perfectly reasonable to work 9-3 instead of 9-5. No one actually works 8 hours a day. It’s mostly work spurts with 15-20 min lulls all day long.
Besides, other than teachers, lawyers, government workers, etc. who even works 9-5 Mon-Fri? The vast majority of people work outside those hours and expecting kids to stay in school til 6 PM will make it harder, not easier, for a lot of people.
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I do not know a single lawyer who works 9-5.
The point was a broader strategy, not an individual target.
The majority of people at my white collar employer do less than an hour of actual work each day.
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Right. But we don’t have to take 90% of billionaire’s wealth. Let’s tax Buffett and Gates at the same rate we tax dermatologists and see how much they yell (it will be a lot of yelling imo).
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Is that because they’re doing literally nothing (browsing the internet, online shopping, etc.) the rest of the time, or because they do 6+ hours of meaningless corporate administration?
This was close to true for every white collar environment I’ve ever worked in. On top of that, a lot of people are counterproductive, and often the whole mission is pretty clearly a loser.
In construction, people usually work. If someone isn’t productive like 80%+ of the time it really sticks out.
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Doesn’t matter who it is, when they’re retiring, or up for re-election. The point is, Bernie will get in the streets with the people and champion for the common working class, the poor, and minorities. He will tell big pharma, Wall Street, and even Dem politicians who take money from them, that their days of underhandedly gaming and rigging the system for gluttonous greed are over. I have no doubt he will use the bully pulpit to rally the people, which will force politicians’ hands. He’s already been the impetus for steering the conversation even while marginalized at every turn by MSM and other Dems. Imagine what he could do if they couldn’t ignore him
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The Democratic party hasn’t joined the Democratic party in terms of the people they represent. They have been nothing but pathetically inept and useless
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If Bernie joined the Democratic party, I’d definitely change my ranking from Bernie-Liz to Liz-Bernie. It’s a big plus.
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I get what you’re saying. The middle class pays a higher percentage of their income in taxes than billionaires. But I still think it’s utterly immoral for anyone to be worth $100 fucking billion dollars. It’s hard to even wrap your head around just how much that is
Sure. I also get the impulse to take all their money. But taxing them at dermatologists’ rates are a nice middle ground. And with that sort of tax rate all their wealth will be gone a few decades after they die if they leave it to their dipshit kids rather than donate it to charity.
Especially if we up the estate tax to near 100%
They just hide their fucking money dude. If you’re talking about closing all the loopholes available to them and not everyone else, then I guess maybe?
I’m also not sure the playing field can ever be leveled out unless their wealth is taking from them in the same sinister manner in which they obtained it. In my mind almost every billionaire’s wealth is ill gotten and I have no qualms with taking some of it back by force
If this is the goal, then a more radical proposal is essential. Then maybe you will end up with this.
We’ve seen what happens when people start negotiating from the middle ground.
I almost started a thread about this, but I’ll ask it here for now. My opinion is very unpopular even with some of my more liberal friends…
How much money should one be allowed to pass down? I have no problem with someone who’s done well and had a successful career handing down a few hundred mil and making sure their kids and family are taken care of. But there comes a point where what we have is almost a monarchy where a few families will forever have all the money. Does the great-great-great grandson of Sam Walton deserve to be a multi billionaire and have all that power because once upon a time someone in his lineage built a very successful company?
I think there should be limit on what you can leave behind. I know that’s an extreme view and most are like wtf you want to take their money? But my answer is yes. They should be allowed to make sure their kids and maybe grand kids are set for life and if they play their cards right, it can keep getting passed down. But I’m not sure it should go much further than that. Just like everyone should have the chance at prosperity, so should everyone have the chance to go broke if they’re really stupid. In the current system there’s no chance for that. These families will forever be in power
It would be nice to have like $5M or maybe a bit more depending on your age and family size just to guarantee that you never have to worry about living in a decent place, having decent food, and decent health care. So something like that?
With better social services you wouldn’t need nearly that much to be sure that bad luck, health problems, a few bad choices etc don’t have you, or your kids after you die, living in a dumpster.