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Warren’s Wealth Tax Proposal is ‘Punitive,’ O’Rourke Says O’Rourke Says Warren Is Being ‘Punitive’ as She Pitches a Wealth Tax
(about 1 hour later)
Former Representative Beto O’Rourke said at Tuesday night’s debate that Senator Elizabeth Warren was being “punitive” in calling for a tax on the wealth of the richest Americans, a proposal that is a centerpiece of her presidential campaign. Former Representative Beto O’Rourke suggested at Tuesday night’s debate that Senator Elizabeth Warren was being “punitive” as she argues for a tax on the wealth of the richest Americans, a proposal that is a centerpiece of her presidential campaign.
“Sometimes I think that Senator Warren is more focused on being punitive or pitting some part of the country against the other, instead of lifting people up and making sure this country comes together around those solutions,” Mr. O’Rourke said. “Sometimes I think that Senator Warren is more focused on being punitive or pitting some part of the country against the other, instead of lifting people up and making sure that this country comes together around those solutions,” Mr. O’Rourke said, even as he said that a wealth tax was “part of the solution” for addressing income inequality.
Ms. Warren has proposed creating an annual tax on wealth that would apply to households with a net worth above $50 million. She would put in place a 2 percent tax on a household’s net worth above $50 million, and a 3 percent tax on net worth above $1 billion.Ms. Warren has proposed creating an annual tax on wealth that would apply to households with a net worth above $50 million. She would put in place a 2 percent tax on a household’s net worth above $50 million, and a 3 percent tax on net worth above $1 billion.
On the campaign trail, Ms. Warren takes care to emphasize that she is not seeking to punish the super rich, telling crowds that she is not proposing a wealth tax because she is “cranky.” She made a similar argument in response to Mr. O’Rourke on Tuesday. Ms. Warren would use the revenue from that tax — just two cents of every dollar over $50 million, as she explains it to crowds — to finance programs like universal child care, student debt cancellation and tuition-free public college.
“So, I’m really shocked at the notion that anyone thinks I’m punitive,” she said. “Look, I don’t have a beef with billionaires.” On the campaign trail, Ms. Warren takes care to emphasize that she is not seeking to punish the super rich, telling audiences that she is not proposing a wealth tax because she is “cranky.” In response to Mr. O’Rourke’s comments, she said she was “really shocked at the notion that anyone thinks I’m punitive.”
“Look, I don’t have a beef with billionaires,” she said, adding, “You made a fortune in America, you had a great idea, you got out there and worked for it, good for you.”
Ms. Warren then made an argument she is fond of making on the campaign trail — one that attracted attention back in 2011, the year before she was elected to the Senate. People who have built a fortune in the United States, she said on Tuesday, “built it in part using workers all of us helped pay to educate.”
“You built it in part getting your goods to market on roads and bridges all of us helped pay for,” she continued. “You built it at least in part protected by police and firefighters all of us helped pay the salaries for. And all I’m saying is, you make it to the top, the top one-tenth of 1 percent, then pitch in two cents so every other kid in America has a chance to make it. That’s what this is about.”