Ocasio-Cortez says ‘tax the rich’ as 2020 Democrats debate taxation

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) bluntly stated “Tax the rich” on Twitter Tuesday night as 2020 Democratic presidential candidates debated matters such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposed wealth tax. 

Ocasio-Cortez, a former organizer for Sen. Bernie Sanders‘s (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign, made the statement as Warren faced scrutiny from a range of candidates, including Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and businessman Andrew Yang, about the potential impacts of her proposed wealth tax. 

Tax the rich.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 15, 2019

Warren, who has seen her support gradually increase throughout the election cycle, has made a wealth tax a centerpiece of her campaign. The proposal calls for imposing a 2 percent tax on the wealth of people with more than $50 million in assets, while those with assets more than $1 billion would face a 3 percent tax.  

“I think this is about our values as a country. Right now in America, the top one-tenth of one percent have so much wealth,” Warren said, later asking,”My question is not why do Bernie and I support a wealth tax, it’s why does everyone else on the stage think it is more important to protect billionaires than it is to invest in an entire generation of Americans?”

Elizabeth Warren on closing the income gap: “My question is not why do Bernie and I support a wealth tax, it’s why does everyone else on the stage think it is more important to protect billionaires than it is to invest in an entire generation of Americans?” #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/XHQV586X4W

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 15, 2019

“No one is supporting billionaires,” former Vice President Joe Biden quickly responded. 

Klobuchar later took aim at the proposal, saying that “no one on this stage wants to protect billionaires.”

“Not even the billionaire wants to protect billionaires. We just have different approaches,” she said. 

Yang also said that the wealth tax makes a lot of sense “in principle,” but noted that it had been tried and failed in countries such as Germany and Sweden. 

“If we can’t learn from the failed experiences of other countries, what can we learn from?” he asked. 

Addressing the issue, Sanders, who has been outspoken about inequality, reiterated his demand that the wealthiest in America start paying their fair share in taxes.

“If you are asking me, do I think we should demand that the wealthiest, top one-tenth of 1 percent start paying their fair share of taxes, so we can create a nation and a government that works for all of us — yes, that’s exactly what I believe,” Sanders said.