Chuck Collins and Rebekah Entralgo: Ban Mercenary Billionaires and Tax Them Up the Kazoo
July 5, 2021
By Chuck Collins and Rebekah Entralgo
If we had seen this report on billionaires behaving badly in some source other than the Washington Post, we would have likely found it difficult to swallow: A Tennessee billionaire businessman, Willis Johnson, is paying to station South Dakota National Guard troops at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Can we now expect a future full of billionaire mercenaries? Potentially. We are, after all, living in a political system where the ultra-rich need not content themselves with democratic processes like voting. Our system lets the rich deploy their enormous wealth to influence and even make policy. Our system encourages and rewards reckless behavior.
How much money will Willis Johnson be donating from his personal foundation to make policy at the border? Johnson — a prominent National Rifle Association backer who pumped $550,000 into the Trump campaign — has told reporters simply: “I want to protect America and that’s it.”
We want to protect America, too, and we think we have a much better approach than Johnson. Let’s require the ultra-rich to pay up, at tax time, so we can create a more equitable society that works for all of us!
Sincerely,
Chuck Collins and Rebekah Entralgo
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