Biden admin Spending plans: $4.5 Trillion paid for by Billionaires

[Borg warner]

Bernie Sanders Runs Out of Billionaires

Spending plans: $4.5 trillion. Billionaire net worth: $4.4 trillion.

Editorial Staff The Wall Street Journal Aug. 30, 2021

Bernie Sanders held a rally in Iowa over the weekend to sell his $3.5 trillion budget proposal, and he also had kind words for President Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan. As usual, Mr. Sanders assailed America’s “billionaire class,” which he said is refusing to pay its “fair share” of taxes.

“We are living in a nation where the people on top are doing phenomenally well,” Mr. Sanders told the crowd. “They have so much money, they don’t even know what to do with it, and now some of them are off in outer space spending their billions. Well, we think maybe it might be a good idea, before you go off to outer space, to start paying attention to the struggles of working families on the ground.” The trouble with this story is that Bernie has already run out of billionaires. There are 724 of them in the U.S., according to the 2021 Forbes billionaires list, released in April. At that point their collective net worth was $4.4 trillion, although that figure has presumably since risen along with the stock market.

But note the problem. Mr. Biden’s infrastructure plan includes about $550 billion in new spending, but the overall bill is near $1 trillion. Mr. Sanders’s budget is purportedly $3.5 trillion. Yet that number is far too low, according to analysts at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “We estimate the policies under consideration,” they said last month, “could cost between $5 trillion and $5.5 trillion over a decade, assuming they are made permanent.” Add it all up.

If Mr. Sanders were to confiscate every asset of every American billionaire— Jeff Bezos’s rockets; Elon Musk’s bitcoin; Larry Ellison’s boats; Oprah Winfrey’s houses; Ted Turner’s ranches; Jay-Z’s car collection; even the starched shirt off the back of poor Larry Fink, who tied for last place on the Forbes list, at $1 billion—it still wouldn’t cover the cost of Democrats’ next two legislative plans.

That’s to say nothing of funding the government’s regular operations, a baseline budget that’s expected to be roughly $4 trillion a year. And we haven’t allocated a dime yet to Mr. Sanders’s larger ambitions, including Medicare for All. The point is that he talks abstractly about the “billionaire class,” but at the scale of the U.S. government, Jeff Bezos is a minnow.

Bernie’s shtick is always “us versus them.” The reality is that there aren’t enough of “them,” which is why the tax man will be coming back sooner rather than later for the rest of “us.”

[railfancwb]

Bernie can freely chose to sell a few of his houses and give the proceeds to benefit the poverty stricken. In fact, he can GIVE the houses to a not-for-profit dedicated to easing the burden of poverty. Instead of paying capital gains taxes on the profit from selling he could claim charitable deduction for 100% of the market value when donated.

Isn’t the Clinton Foundation a not-for-profit dedicated to easing the burden of poverty?

[Rellik]

America doesn't have enough billionaires.

[Batesmotel]

We just have too many socialists. 

[NPTim]

3 hours ago, Rellik said:

America doesn't have enough billionaires.

The majority are, ironically, communists, so I have no problem with them being forced to “donate” their wealth to fund this boondoggle. 

[DAKA]

         HEY BERNIE, YOU PIECE OF S (turd) stuff a sock in it ... don't you understand ... NO ONE GIVES A  S (turd) what YOU HAVE TO SAY...

YOU are IRRELEVANT 

ps  ALSO YOU SHOULD xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx redacted

[gwalchmai]

9 hours ago, Rellik said:

America doesn't have enough billionaires.

You don't understand physics like the Dims do. They're also gonna take all the money from the potential billionaires.

[21 shooter]

I remember the windfall predicted from the great cigarette taxes increases.  Cities spent money like, well, libtards usually do.  Then a great many people quit smoking.  The fearless leaders were furious!  Seems they weren’t concerned about health, just another money stream.  

[Huaco Kid]

2 hours ago, 21 shooter said:

I remember the windfall predicted from the great cigarette taxes increases.

Our glorious governor, Ed Swindell, promised an elimination of property taxes if gambling was legalized in our state.

[Huaco Kid]

Rush once calculated that if they took all of the billionaire's money,  it would cover the government's spending for several months.

After that,  everyone gets to eat cake.

[railfancwb]

4 hours ago, Huaco Kid said:

Rush once calculated that if they took all of the billionaire's money,  it would cover the government's spending for several months.

After that,  everyone gets to eat cake.

Billionaires buy politicians. Peons can’t. 

[railfancwb]

To paraphrase Samuel Gompers, an early union leader: What do politicians want? More. 

[gwalchmai]

The idea that "the billionaires" will finance the Democrats' spending excesses is a joke. Unfortunately, the joke is on the middle class.

[Rellik]

Do a you tube search for Bill Whittles Afterburner vid "Eat the Rich" 

It's from 2011, and the numbers are old, but the info is spot on.  He out lines what it takes to pay for the gov for one year.  Taking EVERYTHING from the rich.

You will understand why socialism collapses after a few years.  

[Batesmotel]

10 minutes ago, Rellik said:

You will understand why socialism collapses after a few years.  

Socialism and communism (and other totalitarian systems) all eventually fail because they run out of OTHER PEOPLES MONEY.  

[Rellik]

No matter how much money goes to a gov, it's never enough.