- Elon Musk is picking Twitter fights with key Democratic lawmakers pursuing taxes on billionaires.
- Bernie Sanders, known for his "millionaires and billionaires" stump speech, was the latest to face the wrath of Musk's Twitter.
- A key proposal to tax the wealth of billionaires specifically is on life support in the 50-50 Senate.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is unhappy with the Democratic senators spearheading efforts to tax billionaires.
First it was Ron Wyden, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, who authored the "billionaires' tax" that would give Musk a $50 billion tax bill in its first five years. Musk took an unusually crude swipe at the Oregon senator.
The latest target of Musk's ire was Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. On Sunday evening, Musk flung insults at the Vermont independent, shortly after Sanders tweeted that the wealthiest Americans should pay their fair share in taxes.
Musk replied in a tweet: "I keep forgetting you're still alive."
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 14, 2021
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2021
Sanders and Wyden are among the most prominent Democrats in recent months demanding the rich like Musk pay up in taxes, alongside others like Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Sanders and Warren have been vocal proponents of outright wealth taxes, which they both campaigned on during their respective 2020 presidential campaigns, often with Sander issuing his famous refrain about all the advantages that "millionaires and billionaires" have. Sanders' plan would have imposed an increasingly larger marginal tax rate on people holding at least $32 million, halving billionaires' wealth over 15 years.
"I don't think that billionaires should exist," Sanders told The New York Times.
Warren's Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act — also a cornerstone of her campaign — would levy a 2% tax on households holding a net worth of $50 million to $1 billion, and a 3% tax on those with over $1 billion.
"I'm confident lawmakers will catch up to the overwhelming majority of Americans who are demanding more fairness, more change, and who believe it's time for a wealth tax," Warren said in a statement on the proposal, noting that, as of March 2021, billionaires had gotten about 40% richer during the pandemic. As of October 2021, billionaires had grown their net worths by $2.1 trillion — a 70% increase.
The White House hasn't quite leaned into an outright wealth tax, even though polling consistently shows it's popular with most voters, who want higher taxes on the wealthy to offset infrastructure spending.
President Joe Biden had previously proposed taxing investment income for Americans earning above $1 million and ordinary income at equal rates, and shutting down a loophole that allows the wealthiest people pass inheritances to their heirs tax-free. These plans ran into resistance among Democrats, who can't afford to lose more than three votes in the House and none in the Senate.
Last month, Wyden unveiled a proposal to hit the stock holdings held by roughly 700 billionaires like Musk with a new 23.8% capital gains tax, compelling them to pay new levies on the growing value of their shares.
But it collided into resistance from Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who argued it was overly punitive toward business and corporate leaders. His opposition sunk the plan, though Wyden still wants it to form part of the $1.75 trillion social spending bill that the House is poised to pass by the end of this week.
Unease over the Wyden plan went far beyond Manchin. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately derided the tax late last month during a call with senior Democrats, calling it a public relations stunt that had little chance of becoming law.