Build a Middle Class and Tax the Rich

Hector Madrigal·
Opinion

The middle class has been destroyed these past 50 years, and billionaires have become a common thing in today’s world. This must stop.

Politicians often fight over how they want to distribute wealth. Democrats say they’re for the poor through social programs, and Republicans say they’re for businesses through trickle down economics. They’ve all argued over how much money is needed based on where you live and what counts as poor, rich, or middle class.

The reality is the federal minimum wage has stalled while productivity and profits have increased. The taxes have been rearranged to screw over the normal worker, and the economy is a mess. There basically is no middle class anymore based on wealth distribution [N]. Yes, the unemployment rate may be low, but many jobs that are available do not pay workers a living wage.

A quick way to fix this is to tax the rich. Current tax brackets are set for an economy far in the past. Let’s update it to create a middle class once again. If enough money is generated, a Universal Basic Income can be distributed to the entire population, as Andrew Yang has suggested [N]. Here are tax brackets I have in mind for single taxable income

  • Income: $0 – $10,000; Tax Rate: 5%
  • Income: $10,001 – $35,000; Tax Rate: 10%
  • Income: $35,001 – $65,000; Tax Rate: 20%
  • Income: $65,001 – $90,000; Tax Rate: 25%
  • Income: $90,001 – $110,000; Tax Rate: 30%
  • Income: $110,001 – $150,000; Tax Rate: 35%
  • Income: $150,001 – $250,000; Tax Rate: 40%
  • Income: $250,001 – $350,000; Tax Rate: 40%
  • Income: $350,001 – $550,000; Tax Rate: 45%
  • Income: $550,001 – $750,000; Tax Rate: 50%
  • Income: $750,001 – $900,000; Tax Rate: 55%
  • Income: $900,001 – $1,000,000; Tax Rate: 60%
  • Income: $1,000,001 – $5,000,001; Tax Rate: 70%
  • Income: $5,000,001 – $10,000,000; Tax Rate: 80%
  • Income: $10,000,001+; Tax Rate: 90%

Additionally, companies can be taxed based on the Stop BEZOS Act proposed by Bernie Sanders [N]. Since large corporations use loopholes to pay 0% income tax, additional taxes can and should be applied to them specifically. If the company is large enough, yet their employees still rely on government programs to survive, that company will be taxed based on the money used by the government.

© Hector Madrigal