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In a recent episode of his War Room podcast, former White House advisor and political operative Steve Bannon proposes a tax hike for the wealthiest Americans.
Bannon’s comments come after ProPublica, an independent newspaper, published a thorough report revealing that the wealthiest people in the U.S. pay little or no taxes compared to the rest of Americans.
Bannon said in his show that this situation is “absurd” and that the USA is “being ripped off” by these billionaires.
For the former advisor, taxing the rich will help alleviate the financing of the country’s deficit. Otherwise, Middle America will impose that burden on its children and grandchildren – a problem also perceived by libertarian Rand Paul during one of his speeches in the Senate.
These billionaires, many of whom support woke policies, are part of a mercantilist system that destroys the possibility of a free market. He also directed his criticism at those who radically refuse to raise taxes, even on the wealthiest. “If you’re not going to raise taxes but you’re also not going to rein in spending and keep printing money, you’re going to explode the debt!” he demanded.
He went on to respond to some of the audience who were upset and labeled him a socialist for proposing a tax hike on the wealthiest. Bannon replied, “I’m not a socialist, I’m a capitalist. But the system right now is an oligarchy, not capitalism.”
The War Room host said to Raheem Kassam, his podcast partner, that this posture is not recent, but goes back to the origins of the USA. “Our Founding Fathers fought a revolution at this very point.” “We have an aristocracy in this country that agrees with the managed decline of this country,” he continued.
For Bannon, the U.S. has few options. In his view, the U.S. can cut government spending, sell more bonds to other countries or raise taxes on the country’s wealthiest, especially “the [richest] 25.”
However, Bannon’s position is not a recent reaction to the document published by ProPublica. In 2017, while still in the White House, he proposed a new top marginal tax of 44%, which would fall on those earning more than $5 million a year.
The plan by Bannon – who identifies himself as an “economic nationalist” – would be coupled with a tax cut on middle-class and working-class Americans.
Rafael Valera, Venezuelan, student of Political Science, political exile in São Paulo, Brazil since 2017 // Rafael Valera, venezolano, es estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y exiliado político en São Paulo, Brasil desde 2017