MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, former GOP congressman, makes an impassioned case for taxing the super-rich

If redistributing wealth through tax policy is "socialism," former Florida Republican congressmember Joe Scarborough is fine with the label, he said on Tuesday's Morning Joe.
The House Ways and Means Committee released its tax plan Monday, part of the Democrats' $3.5 trillion (or less) spending package, proposing to raise $2.1 trillion over 10 years by raising the top income tax rate back to 39.6 percent, from 37 percent, and increasing taxes on profitable corporations, among other changes that "would overwhelmingly hit the richest 1 percent of Americans," The Washington Post says.
But, The New York Times reports, "the proposal, while substantial in scope, stopped well short of changes needed to dent the vast fortunes of tycoons like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, or to thoroughly close the most egregious loopholes exploited by high-flying captains of finance," dispensing "with measures floated by the White House and Senate Democrats to tax wealth." Senior House Democrats chose this path, the Times reports, "to be more mindful of moderate concerns in their party." Scarborough suggested they were being mindful of lobbyists for the super-rich, and he urged Democrats to "do better" than this "lousy" tax plan.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Are moderates really concerned that" corporations like Amazon and Chevron "may actually have to pay millions of dollars in taxes? Because now they're paying zero," Scarborough said. "And billionaires are continuing to figure out how to pay little or nothing. Hedge fund titans are paying taxes at lower rates than their clerical employees and the people who chauffeur their Bentleys. You think that's demagoguery, that's populism? No, it's not. No, that's the fact."
"Everybody hates income redistribution, that makes you a socialist, doesn't it, if you're for a scheme that redistributes wealth?" Scarborough added. "Well, let me tell you something: In the world we've lived in over the past 40 years, there's been the largest income redistribution scam in American history, and it's been the middle class that's been looted while trillions keep flowing into the bank accounts of billionaires."
Plenty of congressional Democrats agree. "It would be a monumental mistake for Congress to pass a bill that really exempts billionaires," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the Finance Committee. But Ways and Means Committee member Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) defended their plan as "the boldest common denominator" that can get 218 House votes and 50 Senate votes, adding, "What I don't want is another noble defeat."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
‘Every argument has a rational, emotional and rhetorical component’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Why is this government shutdown so consequential?
Today's Big Question Federal employee layoffs could be in the thousands
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US