Pass a federal wealth tax within the first 100 days of the new Congress. Voters just handed Democrats majorities in both chambers, and the mandate is clear: take on the billionaire class that spent over $2 billion trying to buy this election.
The proposals are already on the table. Sen. Chris Van Hollen's graduated surtax would tax households earning $1 million to $2 million at 5% and those earning over $5 million at 12%. The Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, backed by Rep. Ro Khanna and Sen. Bernie Sanders, would add an annual 5% tax on net worth above $1 billion. These are not radical ideas. They are the logical response to a billionaire class that has rigged the tax code for decades while working families struggle with soaring costs.
Data for Progress found that 41% of swing voters named the economy and cost of living as their top issue, and 61% said the GOP's tax cuts for the wealthy did not help working families. Democrats won by promising to fight for working people. A federal wealth tax is the first test of whether that promise means anything. If Trump vetoes it, as Van Hollen noted, that just proves whose side he is on.