Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn't wasting any time. Right away she called fort taxing people at the "tippy-tops" 70% as a way to pay for her "Green New Deal." The "Green New Deal" would, in theory, create new jobs by investing in renewable energy.
During an appearance on CBS News 60 Minutes, Ocasio-Cortez said to Anderson Cooper that the "Green New Deal" would “require a lot of rapid change that we don’t even conceive as possible right now,” part of this was raising taxes to a marginal rate of 70%.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is floating an income tax rate as high as 60 to 70 percent on the highest-earning Americans to combat carbon emissions https://t.co/vcKrQlz8Tr
— POLITICO (@politico) January 4, 2019
She referred to the people at the "tippy-tops" paying a 70% tax rate as them paying their "fair share" of the tax burden.
Ocasio-Cortez compared the "Green New Deal" to past policies that were deemed radical, such as the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln.
If your 2020 platform doesn’t include a Green New Deal, are you really running for President? ????
Thank you @ewarren! https://t.co/A2rfUIu2iS
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 2, 2019
Per Fox News:
Those on the left calling for higher taxes have frequently pointed to tax rates in place before President Ronald Reagan took office, to argue they are not unprecedented. But free-market conservatives have argued there were more loopholes in the '60s and '70s, meaning most high earners didn’t actually pay those ultra-high rates.
President Trump in 2017 signed a measure that slashed taxes across the board -- a move that was opposed by most Democrats. Democrats have called for those tax cuts -- particularly the ones for the wealthy -- to be reversed, while Republicans have argued that the cuts have helped fuel economic growth.
One has to wonder how much money someone has to make to be included at the "tippy-tops." Losing 70% of their money to taxation is going to make it extremely difficult to survive unless someone is making loads of money per year.