While Elizabeth Warren is intent upon having a wealth tax, there is a candidate on the other side of the political aisle who has also proposed a wealth tax—a very prominent republican candidate for President proposed a wealth tax. While the Warren wealth tax would be a 2% tax, annually, on taxpayers with net wealth above $50 million, this proposal would tax taxpayers with wealth above $10 million, once, at a rate of 14.25%. While the Warren plan would generally fund new proposals envisioned by Warren, this proposed plan would use the proceeds to pay down the national debt, among other things.
So who is this prominent republican that has proposed a wealth tax? The candidate is Donald Trump, the current president of the United States. And, this plan was proposed in 1999. While this old Trump tax proposal has been widely reported on in the past few years, to me it is an excellent example of how complicated tax politics are. A candidate can be in favor a tax proposal right up until the point that their opponents favor it, then it becomes anathema, and will destroy the economy. Democrats favored a corporate tax cut, right up until republicans got serious about passing one themselves. President Obama also favored limited interest paid deductions for corporations and eliminating the corporate AMT, both of which the TCJA did.
While political support for a plan certainly is a function of many different things, it is, strangely, a function of who else supports it. Politicians cannot agree with their sworn enemies.
