In the United States, the wealthiest hold an immense and unprecedented amount of wealth, seen by many Americans as nearly impossible. Every day, billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos make between a whopping $200 and nearly $500 million a day from the countless companies they own and oversee, and from the stocks and investments they have accumulated over the years. Much of this wealth goes untaxed, further enriching the already wealthiest in our society, while the income shares continue to fall for low and middle-income families. Since President Reagan ushered in a new era of neoliberalism and tax cuts that continue to define our domestic economic policy, CEO compensation has grown by over 940%, compared to the average worker’s compensation, which grew by a mere 11.9%, as stated by the Economic Policy Institute. Even after taxes are collected, the gap between top earners and lower-income families grew by a staggering 14% between the onset of the recession in 2009 and 2024, with the top 10% earning 10 times more than the bottom 10%. As much as the issue can be hidden, nearly 40% of the U.S. population is now considered low-income, according to Oxfam America, and the effects of the immense economic inequality continue to plague every aspect of society. Financial wealth is pivotal to upward mobility, but in the United States, the top 1% owns roughly 40% of all financial wealth— while the bottom 80% share only a miniscule 7%. This is greatly due to stagnant wages, which have failed to keep pace with economic productivity over the past 40 years. With less pay, while inflation continues to be on the up, and the cost of living is higher than ever, income disparities force many low and middle-income families to spend thousands of dollars on healthcare expenses, education, and the day-to-day cost of groceries and gas, both of which have gotten more out of hand for everyday Americans in recent months. With less money on hand, families cannot spend as much as they used to, which slows GDP growth. Income inequality results in unequal educational opportunities, harming the potential of future generations and limiting workforce productivity that could grow with higher levels of education. Essentially, those not part of the wealthiest sector of society have meager influence on politics, government, and the corporate class, creating a cycle of poverty in which only those in the top 10% exert their influence on policy, effectively advancing their own financial interests. And this analysis even fails to look in-depth into the long-term effects on social cohesion, with increasing inequality having ties to higher crime rates and political instability. Many attempts to fix the root cause of the issue have failed, with both parties in power failing to recognize the sheer scale of economic inequality in our country and continuing to pass policies that either worsen the crisis or patch parts of it. Social welfare alone does little to end the problem, and cutting it makes it even worse, as exemplified under the leadership of the GOP and the Trump Administration. Taxes should not be increased on low and middle-income households for the sake of funding governmental programs, but raised on the wealthiest and establish a wealth and stock tax, even if it requires abandoning some of your rich friends and campaign contributors. Hiding the issue will not suit forever for those with the most luxury in our midst, and the ceiling will eventually fall, as many economists have already warned us.
Make The Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act
Last month, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which, as Sanders claims, will “create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%.” The legislation aims to tax the ultra-wealthy by imposing a 5% annual wealth tax on the net worths of individuals with net worths exceeding $1 billion. Under the law, less than a thousand Americans would be taxed, and they would collectively raise an estimated $4.4 trillion over a decade to fund social services, housing, and direct payments of over $3,000 to every single “man, woman, and child in a household making $150,000 or less.” Senator Sanders cited that the bottom 93% now own less wealth than the top 1%, largely due to a “corrupt tax code that enables billionaires to pay a lower tax rate than the average worker.” He further went on to criticize how such a grotesquely wealthy nation like the United States can simply allow over 60 percent of its citizens to live paycheck to paycheck, with the climbing costs of life, even for the most basic of necessities. Representative Ro Khanna, a sponsor of the act, argued that the economic divide in the United States needs to be addressed through modest taxation while “keeping our innovative engine.” The report on the act cited an analysis conducted by economists Gabriel Zucman and Emmanuel Saez, listing what over $4 trillion in revenue could fund. According to the analysis, the revenue could plausibly fund an exhaustive number of services and programs to the betterment of the average American. Just a small sampling of them includes the following:
- Reversing the $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) under the GOP and President Trump’s leadership.
- Set a minimum annual salary of $60,000 for all public school teachers in the United States.
- Facilitate the construction of over 7 million affordable homes to increase availability and lower prices for low- and middle-income Americans.
- Cap the cost of spending on everyday childcare American families at 7% of respective income.
- Cover vision, dental and hearing under Medicare for all older citizens.
This list does not include a comprehensive list of programs and services that could be brought to life if the law were to pass, but Sanders and other progressives undoubtedly showcase the federal government’s prowess in to tackling income inequality and do something about it that benefits regular American citizens. 70% of Americans support the notion of Medicare-for-all, according to a Reuters survey, and over 78% believe that “the wealthiest should pay their fair share”, including 68% of conservatives, in a poll commissioned by Siena College. Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to generally oppose the legislation, despite a record number of Republicans supporting higher taxes on the wealthy, with some GOP legislators even introducing legislation to block state-level taxes. Representative Kevin Kiley, a Republican from California, introduced the Keep Jobs in California Act of 2026 to block his own state’s “Billionaire Tax Act”, and the supposed exodus of taxing residents it would effectuate. Senate Republicans have focused on defending existing tax cuts, such as those implemented by the Trump Administration, and even proposed a two-thirds supermajority amendment to levy taxes and thus raise revenues. Such policies can be a double-edged sword for Republicans – more and more conservatives support tax increases with the advent of populism and “deep state” conspiracy theories. In fact, 9 out of 10 voters in the “Populist Right” group believe that the U.S. economic system unfairly favors powerful interests, according to a report by the Pew Research Center from 2021. Because of this, progressive officials and leaders of the movement are more than willing to utilize this fact to their advantage, already primarying centrist Democrats in swing districts with hopes that more populist Republicans and undecided Independents join the Democrats in their campaign, rallying against the hordes of wealth that those most successful in our society have accumulated through the systemic failures of the federal government.
Works Cited
“13. How the Political Typology Groups View Major Issues.” Pew Research Center, 9 Nov. 2021, www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/11/09/how-the-political-typology-groups-view-major-issues/.
Blumberg, Yoni. “70% of Americans Now Support Medicare-For-All—Here’s How Single-Payer Could Affect You.” CNBC, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/08/28/most-americans-now-support-medicare-for-all-and-free-college-tuition.html.
Ceballos, Ana. “GOP Lawmaker Proposes Measure to Block Key Element of Proposed California Wealth Tax.” Yahoo News, 18 Feb. 2026, www.yahoo.com/news/articles/gop-lawmaker-proposes-measure-block-224020829.html. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
—. “Rep. Kevin Kiley Measure Would Block Key Element of Proposed California Wealth Tax.” Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2026, www.latimes.com/politics/story/2026-02-18/rep-kevin-kiley-proposes-measure-to-block-key-element-of-proposed-california-wealth-tax. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
Eisinger, Jesse, et al. “The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax.” ProPublica, ProPublica, 8 June 2021, www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax.
Lewis, Rebecca. “New Poll Shows That Taxing the Rich Is Very Popular – City & State New York.” Cityandstateny.com, 2025, www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2025/11/new-poll-shows-taxing-rich-very-popular/409252/.
Mishel, Lawrence, and Julia Wolfe. “CEO Compensation Has Grown 940% since 1978: Typical Worker Compensation Has Risen Only 12% during That Time.” Economic Policy Institute, 14 Aug. 2019, www.epi.org/publication/ceo-compensation-2018/.
“NEWS: Sanders and Khanna Introduce Legislation to Tax Billionaire Wealth and Invest in Working Families» Senator Bernie Sanders.” Senator Bernie Sanders, 2 Mar. 2026, www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-and-khanna-introduce-legislation-to-tax-billionaire-wealth-and-invest-in-working-families/.
Oliver, Laura. “Chart of the Day: America’s Richest 1% Own 40% of the Country’s Wealth.” World Economic Forum, 7 Dec. 2017, www.weforum.org/stories/2017/12/chart-of-the-day-americas-richest-1-own-40-of-the-countrys-wealth/.
Rampell, Catherine. “Income Inequality Reached High in 2009.” Economix Blog, 29 Sept. 2010, archive.nytimes.com/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/income-inequality-reached-high-in-2009/.
Sanders, Sen, and Rep Khanna. The Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act.
UNEQUAL the RISE of a NEW AMERICAN OLIGARCHY and the AGENDA WE NEED. 2025.
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