Discussion on Billionaire Tax and Influence

Believe it or not,

I want to propose a toast to a billionaire.

Cheers to Mr. Sergey Brin.

Now let me explain.

Sergey Brin, one of the richest men on the planet,

worth around $300 billion,

is trying to squash a proposed billionaire tax in California.

The Google co-founder has reportedly spent at least $57 million

to defeat a ballot initiative that would impose a one-time wealth tax

on California's richest residents,

money that would help cover cuts to the state's Medicaid system

caused by Donald Trump's big, ugly bill.

Now remember, Trump's big, ugly bill

cut funding for health care programs in exchange

for enormous tax cuts that mostly benefited the richest Americans,

including billionaires like Mr. Brin, who are now crying foul.

Remember when Google's slogan was, don't be evil?

Now folks, I want to be clear.

Wealth is not necessarily a zero-sum game

in which every dollar the wealthy have come

at the expense of the rest of us.

But political power is.

The more political power concentrated in the hands of a wealthy few,

the less power the rest of us have.

And in America today,

wealth and power cannot be separated.

That's because the wealthy can turn their fortunes into political influence,

buying elections,

squashing higher taxes, and shaping the rules in their favor

while drowning out the voices of everyone else.

Ironically.

By spending his fortune trying to stop California from taxing billionaires,

Sergey Brin is illustrating exactly why we need to tax billionaires

in the first place.

Not to punish them or confiscate their wealth,

but to keep billionaires from completely dominating our politics.

Sergey Brin is making the argument for a billionaire wealth tax

more clearly and articulately than anyone else possibly could.

So Sergey, cheers!