SHANTY TOWNS OF THE 1930'S WERE CALLED "HOOVERVILLES". TODAY WE HAVE "TRUMPVILLES"

…Instead of “Hoovervilles”, these are the “Trumpvilles” of the 21^st Century

Even many of America’s richest families want to halt the nation’s growing US wealth inequality.

A number of wealthy Americans have done something that most of us middle-class Americans don’t understand why our US Congress doesn’t immediately respond…?

In an open letter published this week, some billionaires and heirs to large fortunes urged all 2020 presidential candidates to impose a wealth tax on the richest Americans. The letter cites support for proposals that would address the nation’s enormous US wealth inequality between the “haves” and the “have nots”.  The plan is in line with the taxation proposal that is put forth by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

This large group of wealthy individuals includes, but is not limited to the follow individuals: Abigail Disney, the independent filmmaker and heir to the Disney entertainment empire; Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes; the investor and liberal donor George Soros; and Regan Pritzker, board chair of the Libra Foundation.  (The Libra Foundation is a grant making organization in support of progressive causes with a focus on social and economic justice.)

This is only a small example of those wealthy Americans that support the concept that there needs to be some major effort to eliminate the increasing inequality that is occurring in today’s United States.

One wealthy American has stated that when driving through both large and small US cities, it is obvious that there is a serious problem.  That is when you witness the number of homeless camps and the increasing number of Americans living in tents, old campers and well used motor-homes.  They are doing so because they can’t afford to live anywhere else.

It is today looking like a 21^st century version of the “Hooverville” communities of the Great Depression. These were shanty town communities named after the then Republican US President, Herbert Hoover.  I guess today we should call these latest camps and portable motor-home communities, “Trumpvilles”.

…These were the “Hoovervilles” of the Great Depression.  As were these make-shift communities, the “Trumpvilles” are today showing up across today’s America.

A single "Hooverville" shanty

So, getting back to the subject, basically, some of the nation’s ultra-rich are calling for the US Congress to place higher taxes on themselves.

The letter has stated : “We are writing to call on all candidates for President, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, to support a moderate wealth tax on the fortunes of the richest 1/10 of the richest 1% of Americans — on us,” the co-signatories wrote. “The next dollar of new tax revenue should come from the most financially fortunate, not from middle-income and lower-income Americans.”

Elizabeth Warren is proposing in her presidential candidacy for that same new ‘wealth tax’ on very rich Americans..

The letter further states that: “America has a moral, ethical and economic responsibility to tax our wealth more. A wealth tax could help address the climate crisis, improve the economy, improve health outcomes, fairly create opportunity, and strengthen our democratic freedoms. Instituting a wealth tax is in the interest of our republic".

The proposal, the letter writers says, would implement a tax of 2 cents on the dollar on assets over $50 million and an additional tax of 1 cent on the dollar on assets over $1 billion. It would generate nearly $3 trillion in tax revenue over 10 years, according to the letter.

Here's how the polls show that American voters feel about a tax proposal on America’s wealthy:

Recent polls show a broad appetite for increasing taxes on the country’s richest people. Tax plans that target high income levels enjoy support among the majority of voters, according to a February Politico-Morning Consult Poll.  

61% of voters say they support a wealth tax such as the one backed by the co-signatories, while 20% saying they oppose it and 19% saying they weren’t sure, but they might support it.  When the polling results are broken down into political affiliation, 50% of Republican voters support a wealth tax, compared with 75% of Democrats.

Among the people who signed the open letter are both activists and philanthropists whose work on social and political issues has grappled with wealth inequality.  

Earlier this year, Abigail Disney criticized the Disney company in an op-ed in The Washington Post, calling attention to chief executive Bob Iger’s compensation last year of $65 million, which amounts to more than 1,400 times the median pay of a Disney worker.

In addition to those named above, the letter is also signed by: Louise J. Bowditch, Robert S. Bowditch, Sean Eldridge, Stephen R. English, Agnes Gund, Catherine Gund, Nick Hanauer, Arnold Hiatt, Molly Munger, Justin Rosenstein, Stephen M. Silberstein, Ian T. Simmons, Liesel Pritzker Simmons, and Alexander Soros, and others.

Of course, the current president is not interested in taxing the wealthy, one of his major campaign donors.

Copyright G. Ater 2019