How Billionaires’ Political Spending Undermines Our Democracy

When they bankroll electoral candidates to the tune of millions, billionaires claim they are merely exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. And while the Supreme Court and current law might be on their side, their political “largesse” is a dangerous subversion of our democracy. Our allies at Americans for Tax Fairness recently published a new report, “Billionaires Buying Elections 2024: Congressional Races,” which … Continue reading How Billionaires’ Political Spending Undermines Our Democracy »

The New York Times is Validating What We’ve Been Saying

For what feels like forever, the Patriotic Millionaires have been talking about the need to tax unrealized capital gains. We’ve been talking about the need to uplift workers affected by the job loss and union decline brought on by deindustrialization. And last, but certainly not least, we’ve been talking about the looming expiration of many provisions of the 2017 GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act … Continue reading The New York Times is Validating What We’ve Been Saying »

Law and Order Means Supporting the IRS

If lawmakers take their oath to uphold and protect the law seriously, they must unconditionally support properly funding the IRS. Otherwise, they are, by definition, criminal apologists – or, in the case of the current GOP presidential nominee, criminals themselves. As part of their Convention in Chicago this week, the Democratic Party released their official party platform. Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic Party’s 2024 … Continue reading Law and Order Means Supporting the IRS »

Broligarchs Are Wrong About Unrealized Gains

Tech broligarchs’ weird adoration of Donald Trump is problematic for a number of reasons, but their fears about having taxes levied on their unrealized capital gains may explain why they’re so willing to abandon the basic tenets of democracy to support their fellow billionaire. In June, we told you about a coterie of billionaires who, despite publicly disavowing Trump after the January 6th Capitol attack, had come … Continue reading Broligarchs Are Wrong About Unrealized Gains »

No Tax On Tips Isn’t Very Pro-Worker

Turns out, the biggest pro-worker piece of Donald Trump’s proposed economic agenda isn’t very pro-worker after all. On June 9, at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Trump pledged to eliminate taxes on tipped income if he wins the White House again. It was a fitting pitch for the location, given that Nevada, a swing state in the upcoming election, has the highest concentration of tipped workers in the US. Since … Continue reading No Tax On Tips Isn’t Very Pro-Worker »

What You Need to Know About Kamala Harris’ Record on Taxes

The past month will go down as one of the most dramatic four-week periods in American history. This past Sunday, after several weeks of speculation, President Biden announced that he would step out of the 2024 presidential race. Shortly after the news broke, our Chair, Morris Pearl, released a statement on behalf of our organization, lauding Biden for his “unrivaled act of selfless patriotism.” You can read … Continue reading What You Need to Know About Kamala Harris’ Record on Taxes »

Project 2025 Will Be a Tax Nightmare

Republicans have done a lot of damage to the American tax code over the years by giving massive and harmful cuts to the wealthy and corporations. But if they win back the White House and get the chance to implement Project 2025, that damage will be supercharged to another level. We told you about Project 2025 on July 4th, and it’s since received a great deal … Continue reading Project 2025 Will Be a Tax Nightmare »

Corporate Tax Cuts Help No One But The Wealthy

We’ve known for a while that next to none of the spoils from the 2017 Trump tax bill’s infamous corporate tax cut trickled down to workers. But now, thanks to recent reporting from some of our allies, we’re more certain than ever that the cut’s benefits instead gushed up to wealthy shareholders like many of us. One of the major provisions of the 2017 Tax … Continue reading Corporate Tax Cuts Help No One But The Wealthy »

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! We hope that you and those close to you can spend time today celebrating America’s 248th birthday and everything that makes our country so special. We here at the Patriotic Millionaires like to use Independence Day to remind ourselves what patriotism means and why we go about calling ourselves “patriotic” in the first place. And judging by recent events at the Supreme Court, … Continue reading Happy 4th of July! »

We Need A Coordinated Minimum Tax on Billionaires

We’ve known for a while now that our desire for lawmakers around the world to raise taxes on wealthy people like us isn’t fringe. But now, we officially have the numbers to back it up – and a blueprint for how international leaders can institute minimum standards for taxing the global rich. The last time we discussed our international work was back in April. A lot has … Continue reading We Need A Coordinated Minimum Tax on Billionaires »

Happy Juneteenth!

Happy Juneteenth! Today marks the third year that the United States has celebrated Juneteenth – which commemorates the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas at the end of the Civil War – as an official federal holiday. Juneteenth is an opportunity to appreciate the progress we’ve made on the path toward racial justice over the last 159 years. In doing so, we see plainly … Continue reading Happy Juneteenth! »

What is Democracy Worth to Billionaires?

We’ve always wondered how much billionaires would be willing to pay for American democracy, and now we have the answer: $4.6 trillion. Last Thursday, Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted in a criminal trial after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to a porn star. It’s too early to tell what kind of impact … Continue reading What is Democracy Worth to Billionaires? »

What’s behind America’s “vibecession”?

It’s the biggest political head-scratcher of the season: President Biden has gotten a lot of questions right on traditional economic tests, but voters refuse to give him passing marks. By all conventional measures, the economy under Biden has thrived. Since Biden took office, 15 million jobs have been created. Unemployment has been below 4% for two and a half years – the longest stretch in over fifty years. Inflation … Continue reading What’s behind America’s “vibecession”? »

Political Power Cannot be a Family Heirloom

Family businesses – from restaurants to hardware stores to plumbing companies to hair salons – make up the beating heart of America. But when the “family business” is wielding unfathomable wealth to influence our democracy, it becomes a problem. Last week, our allies at Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) published a report, “The Billionaire Family Business,” which revealed the enormous sums that billionaire families have … Continue reading Political Power Cannot be a Family Heirloom »

Happy May Day!

The United States may not officially recognize International Workers’ Day – more commonly referred to as May Day – but the Patriotic Millionaires will never skip an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of workers and their contributions to America and our economic prosperity. May Day is recognized as an official public holiday in most countries around the world and is traditionally celebrated on May 1st every … Continue reading Happy May Day! »

The Cold Hard Facts about the TCJA

If you’re a regular reader of our newsletter, you know how often we talk about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which is former President Trump and Republicans’ signature tax bill from December 2017. And if you know how much we talk about the TCJA, you know how often and how loudly we say the package delivered a massive windfall to the ultra-wealthy and corporations. We … Continue reading The Cold Hard Facts about the TCJA »

The G20 must act. Tax us, the super rich!

The Patriotic Millionaires have a message that the G20 finance ministers literally can’t miss: “The G20 must act. Tax us, the super rich! We are proud to pay more.” The leaders of the world’s leading economies are in town for the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. So naturally, we took it upon ourselves to project our simple message onto the … Continue reading The G20 must act. Tax us, the super rich! »

Corporations are Supercharging Inequality

We always knew that corporations and their C-suite executives were hoarding profits and driving inequality through the roof, and now our friends at Oxfam, the Institute for Policy Studies, and Americans for Tax Fairness have fresh data to prove it. This week, Oxfam published its analysis of the largest 200 public companies’ contributions to inequality in the US, aptly called the Corporate Inequality Footprint. In short, … Continue reading Corporations are Supercharging Inequality »

Taxes are having a moment

Taxes are having a moment. Tomorrow night, President Biden will deliver his annual State of the Union address before both houses of Congress. He is expected to touch on a number of critical issues, but early reports suggest the President will emphasize economic populism, and in particular, call for the ultra-wealthy and corporations to pay more in taxes. In what may be his biggest televised appearance before … Continue reading Taxes are having a moment »

You’re Not Imagining It

No, you’re not going crazy: your favorite snacks and household products really are diminishing in both size and quality. The new phenomena of “shrinkflation” and “skimpflation” are very real, and they are becoming huge problems for millions of working Americans. Although inflation has cooled considerably since its peak in 2021 and 2022, prices are still ticking up at a faster rate than they were before the COVID … Continue reading You’re Not Imagining It »