Elizabeth Warren frequently does it with a twinkle in her eye, while Bernie Sanders shouts and looks grim, but both have made bashing billionaires the centerpiece of their respective campaigns. Is that good for the country?
Sometimes the billionaires bring it on themselves, by seeking rents, successfully lobbying for even more regressive tax cuts which benefit no one but themselves, and constantly whining about a lack of respect. It’s hard to be very sympathetic, and I agree with the consensus that their taxes should be raised significantly. But still . . .
Sanders and Warren are threatening to turn the wealthy into the left-wing version of illegal immigrants– convenient scapegoats for policy failures. The idea of hiring armies of IRS agents to scrutinize their assets on an annual basis is the rough equivalent of treating them like dangerous wild animals in a zoo. Worse, the wealth tax sends the message that too much financial success makes you evil. As Cory Booker pointed out at the last debate, we need to grow the economy as well as redistribute the proceeds.
In my opinion, it is perfectly OK to identify important unmet social needs and ask the wealthy to give up their unjust tax benefits and pay for programs that address them. I would go on to say that you can even make a case that redistribution will help rebuild the middle class and ultimately enhance economic growth. The unconstitutional and administratively awkward wealth tax is not the way to go, however, and the anti-billionaire rhetoric needs to stop. We need to solve problems, not create scapegoats and unlikely martyrs.