Trump Can’t “Weave” Around This Uncomfortable Truth

With just 19 days left before the election, Donald Trump is desperately trying to muddy the waters around his tax plan. But there’s no getting around it: cumulatively, his proposals would hurt millions of working people while giving a tiny fraction of wealthy people like us yet another break. Our friends at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) recently analyzed the distributional impact of … Continue reading Trump Can’t “Weave” Around This Uncomfortable Truth »

Ron Johnson: Misguided or Shilling for the Rich?

If you were a rich Wisconsinite striving to get even richer and you had little regard for intellectual honesty or the well-being of your fellow citizens, you would agree with Sen. Ron Johnson’s remarks at last month’s Senate Finance Committee hearing. Otherwise, you’d find the senator’s views troublesome, to say the least. I was a witness at that hearing. Johnson asked me to agree with … Continue reading Ron Johnson: Misguided or Shilling for the Rich? »

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 »

A CEO Makes the Business Case for the American Stability Act

This is John Driscoll again. If you remember, I’m the Patriotic Millionaire who wrote to you a few weeks ago to give you a full rundown on the state of wages in America, and why there’s a strong business case for paying people higher wages. It’s been almost a week since Representative Summer Lee (PA-12) introduced the American Stability Act with the support of our organization and a (growing!) number of … Continue reading A CEO Makes the Business Case for the American Stability Act »

Pass the American Stability Act!

America is suffering from twin wage and tax crises, and today, the Patriotic Millionaires are excited to announce a bold, innovative solution we’ve worked on with our allies on the Hill! Today, with support from our organization and a number of cosponsors, Representative Summer Lee (PA-12) has introduced the American Stability Act, a landmark bill which will enact the largest wage increase and tax cut for … Continue reading Pass the American Stability Act! »

Bank of America is Showing that Higher Wages and Good Business Can Coexist

Bank of America just announced that it will increase its company-wide minimum wage in October to $24 an hour, one of the highest wage floors in the United States. This $1 increase from the company’s current wage floor is more than good news for BofA’s employees – it’s an extension of one of the longest streaks of wage growth at any major business in America, … Continue reading Bank of America is Showing that Higher Wages and Good Business Can Coexist »

Bob Lord is on a roll!

Our Senior Vice President of Tax Policy, Bob Lord, has been on a roll for the last few weeks – so much so that we’ve decided to devote an entire Closer Look to bragging about him! You may recognize Bob’s name from some of our past newsletters. Bob joined our team as a Senior Tax Policy Advisor in 2022 and also is an Associate Fellow at … Continue reading Bob Lord is on a roll! »

The Business Case for Paying the People

My name is John Driscoll. I am a member of the Patriotic Millionaires and a Senior Advisor to Walgreens Boots Alliance and the EQT Group. Previously, I was the CEO of CareCentrix, Group President for New Markets at Medco, and Executive Vice President at Walker Digital. I have built my career helping develop and lead high growth companies in health care and technology. We normally … Continue reading The Business Case for Paying the People »

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 »

Master Plan: A Podcast You Won’t Want to Miss

There is an abundance of high-quality podcasts out there. Few among us have time to listen even to just a fraction of them. Still, one upcoming podcast series bears recommendation: Master Plan: The True Crime of Stolen Democracy, from The Lever. The Lever has unearthed never-before-reported documents proving this 50-year plot was a coordinated effort by wealthy individuals. Over the course of 10 episodes, the series follows the historic … Continue reading Master Plan: A Podcast You Won’t Want to Miss »

Watch ‘The Deciders’ on Apple TV

The Patriotic Millionaires are everywhere these days. We’re on the radio. We’re in the Midwest. We’re in the South. We’re in Washington, D.C. and at the United Nations. And now, we’re somewhere new: the big screen! The Deciders, a documentary about our Great Economy Project, was released on Apple TV TODAY! The Deciders tells the story of what happens when working-class residents in a small, Southern town get a strange … Continue reading Watch ‘The Deciders’ on Apple TV »

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 »

The Economist is Wrong About Unrealized Capital Gains 

I have been a subscriber to and reader of The Economist for almost 20 years. I have appreciated their balanced and intelligent coverage of world events, with a perspective of classical economic liberalism (free markets, free trade, deregulation, and globalism). Yet I find myself in the unusual position of taking issue with two of their recent articles: “How to tax billionaires – and how not … Continue reading The Economist is Wrong About Unrealized Capital Gains  »

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! »

Thoughts on the Supreme Court’s Starbucks ruling

The “Memphis Seven” are seven people who worked at a Starbucks cafe in Memphis, Tennessee. For some time, they had been organizing fellow Starbucks workers in their state, telling them that joining a union could improve their lives. In the end, management terminated the Memphis Seven’s employment over claims that they allowed someone to photograph their Starbucks location. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigated the … Continue reading Thoughts on the Supreme Court’s Starbucks ruling »