1171
just temporarily embarrassed billionaires, one good idea or lottery ticket from making it rich (lemmy.today)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/workreform@lemmy.world
73 comments fedilink hide all child comments
πŸ€” 2
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 16 points 2 months ago (15 children)

Here we go again. No sources.

According to his site:

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/sanders-make-college-tuition-free/

It would cost $70B/year.

According to this site, he makes about $9.8B/year, so even a 100% tax wouldn't do it.

The problem is how do you calculate his taxes? He's already doing that and paying his $800 or whatever it is. So you have to make assumptions about how much you would tax at 4.7%.

I therefore assumed this meant if his entire net worth were taxed at 4.7%.

According to here which tracks it real time: https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/

It's currently $270B.

$270B x 0.047 = $12.7B.

So no, you couldn't fund it just by taxing him 4.7%. I think we'll need to create a special tax on billionaires to cover the rest.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 15 child comments
    •
  • [–] 7 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Currently, we're subsidizing Bezos. US taxpayers are paying Amazon

    And currently, a few people, including Bezos, own more than does half of the US.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago

    Yup and that's probably the biggest injustice the world has ever seen. But that doesn't erase the fact that Bezos, does not have an income or even a net worth of $1.5T, which is what it would take at 4.7% to make $70B.

    This meme could just as easily have said, for instance, that "just Bezos alone could personally fund this program for three years and he'd still be a billionaire. Imagine if we forced that on every billionaire." It would still make a powerful point without spreading a lie to do it. Because if you think a whole bunch of people who saw this and didn't fact check it AREN'T going to repeat it to other people, your kidding yourself.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    Tbf 4.7% would still take is a long way, especially if colleges stopped being a "company" and didn't inflate their prices in spite of student loan companies.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (4 children)

    So, 370 million Americans would need about only 181 dollars a year each to have a good education?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

    You think 370 million Americans are all going to go to college?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (2 children)

    I hope so.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    look man i’m all for math, and yep a lot of these social problems can math out pessimistically if we use our current economic model as the basis

    but the reality here is shits fucked, trillionaires should exist, and eat the fucking rich for once

    let’s do that for a change

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 4 points 2 months ago

    I don't believe that vehemently disagreeing with the other side gives you a license to spread misinformation. It is my belief that if you have to lie to make your point, maybe you should reconsider your point. This is my belief whether it's MAGA doing the lying or their opponents.

    AND just because I've pointed out that this meme is demonstrably incorrect doesn't mean that I don't agree with the sentiment. I just believe this administration and it's followers are doing plenty of factually horrible things, there's plenty of factually good points to make on that topic without having to resort to making shit up. Period.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent