In a chaotic time, defined by profound economic insecurity and an ascendant oligarchy, members of Patriotic Millionaires propose a bold, surprisingly simple economic framework to stabilize the nation, challenge anti-democratic forces and set the stage for the next 250 years of American prosperity. With proven support among working class Americans across the political spectrum, this vision has the potential to unite our citizens, ignite the public imagination and challenge the dark forces that seek to dismantle our democracy and our nation. Most importantly, it will challenge the root cause of our current political crisis by permanently mitigating the destabilizing level of inequality that threatens democratic capitalism here and around the world.
OUR POLICY PROPOSALS FOR THE 119TH CONGRESS
The COST OF LIVING TAX CUT Act
- Provides a Cost of Living Exemption (COLE) on federal taxes equal to the median cost of living for a single adult with no children (currently $40,000 per year)
- Phases out the COLE at 2 times the median cost of living for a single adult with no children, ensuring the benefit accrues exclusively to working class Americans.
- Transfers responsibility for the lost revenues from the working class to the millionaire class, through a Millionaire Surtax similar to that passed by the House in 2021.
- A 3% surtax on any income over $1 million per year
- An 8% surtax on any income over $15 million per year;
The EQUAL TAX Act
- Equalizes tax rates for capital gains and ordinary income over $1 million, ending the unjustified preferential treatment of capital over labor while maintaining a meaningful benefit for small investors.
- Closes the stepped-up basis loophole, disrupting the “buy, borrow, die” strategy used by centi-billionaires to minimize their tax obligation as their wealth soars.
The COST OF LIVING WAGE Act
- Permanently connects the success of American businesses to the prosperity of American workers by replacing the federal minimum wage with a “Stability Wage Guarantee” equal to the median cost of living for a single adult with no children (currently $40,000 per year/$20 per hour);
- Provides automatic increases to the “Stability Wage Guarantee” based on the increase of average wages, and never less than the inflation-adjusted Cost of Living.
- Protects American workers against the disruption of automation, globalization and AI by ensuring that the remaining jobs pay enough to support an individual.
*********************************************************
PROPOSED: Cost Of Living Tax Cut Act
Federal Tax Exemption equal to the median cost of living for a single adult with no children
The Cost of Living Tax Cut Act will provide working class Americans immediate, meaningful and permanent tax relief to address the rising cost of living brought about by the inflationary pressures of corporate price-gouging and supply chain disruptions, as well as establish the principle that the government should not tax its citizens into poverty while billionaires continue to pay virtually no taxes.
The COST OF LIVING TAX CUT ACT
- Provides a Cost of Living Exemption (COLE) on federal taxes equal to the median cost of living for a single adult with no children (currently $40,000 per year);
- Phases out the COLE at 2 times the median cost of living for a single adult with no children, ensuring the benefit accrues exclusively to working class Americans.
- Implements a surtax on incomes over $1 million, transferring the responsibility for the lost revenues from the working class to the millionaire class, paid for with a millionaires’ surtax similar to that passed by the House in 2021:
- A 3% surtax on any income over $1 million per year,
- An 8% surtax on any income over $15 million per year;
Background
Today in America, more than 40% of working Americans make less than the median cost of living for a single adult with no children, and more than 70% of Americans make less than the median cost of living for a single adult with one child. The Cost of Living Tax Cut Relief Act will ensure the federal tax code adheres to a simple, common sense principle: the federal government should not tax people into poverty. Until an individual is able to support their basic needs, they should not be required to contribute to the federal coffers. And to the extent that the federal government needs to recoup the lost revenues incurred by this relief, that obligation should be picked up by taxpayers with incomes over $1 million per year.
Timing
Patriotic Millionaires seeks to have this legislation introduced in both houses of Congress prior to April 2025 and plans to support the introduction with a significant media campaign.
**********************************************************
PROPOSED: The Equal Tax Act
An equalization of capital gains and earned income rates for incomes over $1 million
The Equal Tax Act ensures wealthy investors pay the same tax rate on their income that working people pay on their income, by taxing investment income at the same rate as earned income for those earning over $1 million annually. It eliminates one of the ways the wealthy avoid taxes by ending the stepped up basis loophole with unprecedented protections for family farms and businesses.
The Equal Tax Act
- Creates a tax code that treats income the same, regardless of source. Those making more than $1 million in investment income would pay the same tax rate as those who work for a paycheck.
- Closes the stepped-up basis loophole, which would disrupt the “buy, borrow, die” strategy used by centi-billionaires like Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, George Soros, and Carl Icahn to pay zero dollars in federal income tax even as their wealth soared.
Background
The unequal treatment of earned income and capital gains income is one central of the largest drivers of inequality in our tax code. It allows those who primarily earn money from already having wealth to continue to grow it with a much smaller tax obligation than those who earn money from working for a paycheck. A tax code that promotes inequality instead of constraining it is both the product of wealth inequality destabilizing our politics and democracy, and fuel for further destabilization.
Polls indicate 66% of voters support raising capital gains rates on the wealthy, consistent with years of polling indicating support for closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy (74%) and making millionaires and billionaires pay more in taxes (70%). This proposal delivers by raising significant revenue exclusively from households that have more than $1 million in annual income.
Timing
Patriotic Millionaires seeks to have this legislation introduced in both houses of Congress in spring of 2025, and plans to support the introduction with a significant media campaign.
**********************************************************
PROPOSED: Cost Of Living Wage Act
Establishes a wage floor high enough and solid enough to support a robust middle class
The Cost of Living Wage Act will permanently connect the prosperity of American families to the prosperity of American businesses by tying the federal minimum wage to the median cost of living for a single adult with no children. It creates a wage floor not only solid enough to stabilize the economic lives of working people, but also to hold up a large and prosperous middle class, by establishing a federal minimum wage that is based on actual cost of living and average worker wages.
The Stability Wage
- Calls for a federal minimum wage that initially is a Cost of Living Wage – a wage sufficient to pay the basic living expenses of a single, childless adult living in the median American state based on a 40-hour work week.
- Establishes a Stability Wage to increase in proportion to the increase in the average wage for all workers, as the minimum wage did prior to 1968, but never to be less than the inflation-adjusted Cost of Living Wage.
Background
Throughout the 1950s and 60s, America’s middle class thrived and our concentration of wealth was at historic lows. After the federal minimum wage hit its zenith in 1968, however, a complete reversal of that progress began. The last minimum wage increase, to $7.25 in 2009, has the equivalent buying power of $5.12 today. After not budging in 15 years, the minimum wage is back to its 1950 level, barely half of where it stood in 1968 after accounting for inflation.
Seventy percent of the American economy is based on consumer demand, and our economy does not need a few more absurdly rich executives – it needs millions more customers with money in their pockets they can freely spend. Currently American minimum wage workers do not have the means to engage with most of the economy, instead dedicating their meager incomes to basic expenses like food and housing.
Timing
Patriotic Millionaires aims to have this legislation introduced in both houses of Congress by April 2025 and plans to support the introduction with a significant media campaign.
**********************************************************
To participate as an original co-sponsor or for a follow-up conversation, please contact –
Holli Woodings, Director of Legislative Affairs, at [email protected]
Steven Tufaro, Deputy Political Director, at [email protected]
Gene Haigh, Senior Advisor, at [email protected]