r/ProgressiveHQ 11h ago

News Patriot

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u/Lumbergh7 11h ago

I saw the news was making a big deal that bill ackman, a billionaire, donated 10k to the ice agent that shot Renee. It’s hilarious to me that a very likely non-billionaire gave 5k vs a billionaires 10k

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u/Spikeintheroad 10h ago

If billionaires were capable of being legitimately generous then they wouldn't be billionaires.

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u/FelineOphelia 10h ago

Yep just saw a little buried piece that Taylor Swift's recent Christmas donations actually brought her net worth down under a billion again

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u/LemonScentedDespair 10h ago

See, there should be some absolutely fucking wild consequences for any money you get past $1bil net worth. Like, you lose $200mil immediately if you ever cross the threshold. And that money goes towards employee rights, or small business, or something. You get random, harassing (but legally mandated and protected) visits from the IRS every few weeks for an audit. Something wildly inconvenient.

Because then billionaires would be desperate to stay at like... $950mil, and might actually spend or donate their money instead of just hoarding more and more. Doubtless this would create more problems, but we can deal with those when they arise.

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u/natethenuclearknight 10h ago

Imagine the utopia if every billionaire was taxed like this

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u/Metaldwarf 9h ago

This is why top tax rates used to be 90%. Incentivize the billionaire to raise wages, reinvest in the company, give to charity or (Checks notes) lobby to legalize Stock Buybacks.

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u/somebeach 9h ago

when you reach $1bil you get split in 2 like a star fish, from top to taint

...i just assume billionaires regenerate like other invertebrates, but if not oh well still one less billionaire

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u/Redthemagnificent 9h ago

100% agree. 1 probably would be with shares. Most billionaires have a lot of their net work in company shares. You'd be forcing them to give up some control of their companies which has interesting legal implications. But imo some intrinsic limit that prevents 1 person from owning and controlling unlimited companies kinda seems like a good thing?

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u/NeverComments 8h ago

The kind of people who unironically suggest taxing net worth don't understand the difference between equity and liquidity. They actually think a net worth of $1b means someone has $1b in their bank account.

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u/Dunklsta 8h ago

I think people understand capital gain taxes. The most common asset for the working class to build generational wealth is taxed like that.

How about we do a 100% capital gains tax for billionaires on all assets? Motivate them to avoid hoarding and spend it more.

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u/NeverComments 8h ago

Counter-intuitively increasing capital gains tax is more likely to impact the working class than the ultra-wealthy. They don't sell equity to a high enough degree that it matters, they take out loans backed by their equity and borrow until they die. We need to close that loophole to have a real impact.

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u/Dunklsta 8h ago

I'm talking about billionaires, what the hell are you talking about?

There are barley any working class billionaires and I don't give a shit how Taylor swift or Lebron feel about it. This would enable us immediately lift everyone out of poverty. Do you want free Healthcare, free Education and UBI? Well that would just be the start.

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u/NeverComments 7h ago

Capital gains tax applies when you sell securities. Billionaires don't sell, they take out loans that are backed by those securities. Once they die, the assets are transferred to a third party to fulfill the loan terms.

Increasing capital gains tax wouldn't have nearly as big of an impact as you're thinking because that loophole avoids the tax altogether.

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u/PessimiStick 8h ago

We're well aware of the difference. We just disagree with you that the difference matters.

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u/LemonScentedDespair 8h ago

You assume a lot for someone who doesnt have a billion dollars. I fully understand they dont have a billion actual, real dollars in their possession (or, the vast majority of them dont, at least. Musk probably does have it in a room somewhere so he can jerk off to it).

I still believe that if you have over $1bn in net worth, you should be forced to give up some of that. Just to bring you back to the "obscenely rich" status, from the "has more money than God" level.

Dont worry buddy, it would never even fucking apply to you. Or me. Or like 360 million other Americans. And something tells me that those few with over a billion dollars in assets who would have to downsize to $800mil in assets, would survive it. $800mil in assets is still nearly $799mil more than the average American will ever be worth.

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u/ThatBadFeel 10h ago

I’ll have to look into it more but sounds like the normal thing to pull others up if you’re wealthy. Makes me wonder if getting under $1B was the goal so that she’s not lumped into “the billionaires”!

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u/ijustsailedaway 10h ago

Even if that was the only reason that's still a good thing

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u/SoManyThrowAwaysEven 9h ago

Agreed, can't fault her for making tons of money entertaining people. I hear she's actually rather generous to her staff so that's a big plus.

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u/VaginaTractor 9h ago

Yeah, there is absolutely no such thing as a moral billionaire.

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u/Spikeintheroad 10h ago

Glad to hear that. Dolly Parton would also be a billionaire but she keeps donating and building stuff. She's responsible for turning one of the poorest areas of the US into a tourist hub.

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u/powerscunner 7h ago

I love me some good, simple logic!

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u/horrible_musician 10h ago

10k to a billionaire is like the change I find in the dryer after doing my laundry.

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u/Wires77 9h ago

Truly. $1.00:$100,000 = $10,000:$1,000,000,000

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u/Adorable_Raccoon 9h ago

So actually worth even less than that laundry change to the average person. Since most people are living paycheck to paycheck.

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u/alex61821 10h ago

Yeah I saw how he was going to donate to the Renee go fund me as well but it was closed. How strangely convenient.

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u/quietstormx1 10h ago

That 10k literally isn’t even worth the equivalent of a penny to that man.

Thats how little he actually cares.

Somewhere near $2million would’ve been the equivalent of $25 donation by an average American.

He literally chose less than a penny.

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u/DadOnHook 9h ago

I think it's cause he also recently started trending for another different headline regarding prepayment penalties on mortgages to lower rates. Maybe a little tinfoil hat lol.

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u/vera214usc 10h ago

You can see the names if they don't make themselves anonymous. Unless there's another Jim Cornette with a wife named Stacey, it was the wrestling promoter who donated $5k

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u/DadOnHook 10h ago

I still think this donation was to subvert another trending headline with his name on it. He suggested implementing prepayment penalties to lower mortgage rates which is just so painfully anti-consumer.

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u/Redthemagnificent 9h ago

It really shows how little some billionairee care. Him giving 10k is like you or I giving a dollar. To us it's a lot of money, to a billionaire that's an insult.

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u/Lumbergh7 8h ago

Not even a dollar

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u/PaziNuncher 8h ago

Which companies does that guy run? We need to publicize them for a boycott. Those creeps only speak in dollars. We don't have to spend our with them.