The American Prospect has published an article, “The Media Got the Billionaires Income Tax Wrong”, which discusses the media’s incorrect framing of the tax as “unworkable and divisive”. The article begins as follows:
Last week, to pay for the priorities in the Build Back Better agenda, Senate Democrats proposed a “billionaires income tax,” which would require billionaires to report and pay tax on their investment gains—the primary source of their income. The reform would have closed one of the most glaring loopholes in our tax law, one that allows the richest Americans to live unimaginably lavish lifestyles without ever paying income tax.
Rather than focusing on these benefits, however, the press coverage centered on a litany of objections. Journalists framed the billionaires income tax as probably unworkable (Reuters), presumptively unconstitutional (Time), and a novel or even radical departure from the income tax as we know it (The New York Times and Fortune, respectively). Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) branded it “divisive”—a characterization reported uncritically across many sources.
Click here to see the full article: “The Media Got the Billionaires Income Tax Wrong”
Posted by Anthony Tran, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal
Wealth Strategies Journal 