Ocasio-Cortez is right. Democrats should talk about raising taxes on the rich.

[applegrove]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/07/ocasio-cortez-is-right-democrats-should-talk-about-raising-taxes-rich/?noredirect=on&utm_source=reddit.com&utm_term=.ed02082a0244

By Paul Waldman at the Washington Post

"SNIP....


After all, the tax cut Republicans passed at the end of 2017 has clearly been a failure. They all confidently predicted that despite the fact that it showered hundreds of billions of dollars on corporations and the wealthy, the real benefits would quickly trickle down to ordinary people, which was a ludicrous fantasy from the beginning.

Instead, all of the predictions Democrats made about it at the time have come true. Republicans said the tax cut would generate so much economic activity that revenue would soar and the deficit would shrink. In fact, the deficit has ballooned; it is projected to exceed $1 trillion this year. Republicans said corporations would pass their windfall on to workers; Democrats predicted that corporations would use the money for stock buybacks, boosting share prices to benefit wealthy investors. The Democrats were right.

By now, we can say with confidence that the foundational principle of Republican tax policy — that cutting taxes for the wealthy brings economic nirvana and raising taxes for the wealthy brings economic doom — is utterly and completely wrong. It’s not even worth debating anymore. The entire history of U.S. economic policy shows it to be false, from the failure of recent Republican tax cuts to the fact that we had much higher top marginal rates at some of our periods of strongest economic growth. In the 1950s and 1960s, through the postwar boom, the top rate was as high as 91 percent and never fell below 70 percent.

But knowing that Republicans are wrong about taxes doesn't tell us what we should do about them. And the truth is that Democrats don't talk enough about this issue, beyond criticizing Republican proposals, for one important reason: Unlike Republicans, they don't think that tweaking the tax code has transformative effects on the economy.

.....SNIP"

[David__77]

1. Democrats have been on the politician defensive on this for decades.

The demand can be popularized to radically transform the tax system in favor of the great majority, to support the well-being and lives of the many.

[jaysunb]

2. Working here in California. N/t

[TheFarseer]

3. It has to happen before we drown in debt

Once again, god damn republicans telling the kids they can stay up all night and eat candy and we have to be the adults. Not fair but it is what it is. I believe we have to make investors pay more taxes too. That's where the money is, not just high salaries.

[applegrove]

4. Private Equity too.

[TheFarseer]

5. Definitely nt

[nini]

6. Wow.. I've never heard another Democrat say that

My problem with this headline is it implies it is a new idea of hers and no one else thinks this is important.. Enough of this stuff.

[applegrove]

7. They address that at the start of the article.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. what, is sanity returning?

Tax nirvana is achieved under the current system by breaking through the idiotic Republican tax ceiling. The other idiotic Republican policy is to dismantle the safety net below, so everyone not amongst the very rich is constantly in danger of falling completely out of the economy -- to destitution. Welcome to 1929.

Voodoo Reaganomics was disproven by the Reagan Recession. And the Shrub meltdown. Do we really need a trumptastrophe to drive the point home?

GOPers want to destroy the federal government and cement their power regardless of damage to everyone else.