Republican Tax Policies Will Create a Trillionaire Class. That’s Bad News for Workers and Democracy.

As the top 1 percent of the nation have settled into their windfalls post–2017’s tax cuts, they have increasingly invested in our political system—an investment they hope continues to pay off in the form of tax breaks for themselves and their businesses. And that bet has paid off for the billionaire class: The US already led the world in the number of billionaires when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in 2017, with 565 billionaires that year. Today, as Republicans look to extend those tax cuts for the wealthy, the US embarrassingly boasts a record 813 billionaires with a combined net worth of $5.7 trillion.

The dark consequences of this type of wealth concentration are perfectly embodied by Elon Musk. This past presidential cycle, Musk invested a quarter of a billion dollars and bought himself the ability to run the nation like one of his businesses and rewrite the rules of government in his favor—at a significantly cheaper price than the $44 billion it cost him to purchase Twitter. Since this administration took office, he’s benefited from executive branch marketing too, with the president and his cabinet secretaries breaking laws and ethics rules by making public pleas to support Musk’s companies.

Republicans are dead set on supercharging these trends with another round of tax cuts that would fast-track the emergence of a trillionaire class, with Musk leading the way.

Working families, who were already bearing the brunt of inflation, will continue to feel the impact of the proposed tax cuts. Families earning $250,000—representing the top 10 percent of households—account for almost half of consumer spending. Meanwhile, over the past two years, 800 million workers across the globe collectively lost more than $1.46 trillion to inflation, the equivalent of 25 days of lost wages per person. As wages stagnate and household debt rises, economic mobility becomes increasingly elusive for many Americans. The weakening of worker power, coupled with inadequate social investments, further exacerbates these challenges.

The dangers of allowing trillionaires to emerge are manifold. We have hoards of evidence confirming and reconfirming that trickle-down economics does not work, and yet another round of tax cuts for the ultrarich will be no different. Such extreme wealth concentration could lead to political instability, as increasingly concentrated spending by the wealthy and rising costs continue to squeeze the pockets of everyday people.

This unprecedented concentration of wealth poses significant risks not only  to our economic stability, but to our democracy at large. Post–Citizens United, with the gutting of laws that once kept money from overwhelming politics, the tax code is our nation’s de facto written rules about the distribution of money and power throughout society. The past century of the tax code has already been rigged against working families to the benefit of the wealthy and corporations. It’s time for a bold reimagining of our tax code to prevent the rise of trillionaires and foster a more equitable distribution of wealth, income, and political voice for all Americans.

Policies such as taxing wealth like work—using levers such as a capital gains tax, a progressive wealth tax, or increasing taxes on inheritances—can help to rein in the top by ensuring that the wealthy pay their fair share. But these policies must be combined with policies that spur wealth creation and mobility for those at the bottom, especially for Black taxpayers whose interests are often overlooked in favor of more “neutral” solutions. This means adopting policies that particularly benefit the nuanced economic circumstances of Black taxpayers.

Most importantly, it doesn’t matter how “fair” the rules are if they are not enforced. A strong, functioning IRS is critical to ensuring tax fairness in our nation. For too long, the wealthy have been allowed to skirt accountability for filing their taxes and doing so accurately. The top 1 percent of earners is responsible for nearly one-third of the annual $700 billion in unpaid taxes. The Biden administration made great strides in enforcing the rules on high-income taxpayers. Over the past four years, the IRS recovered $4.7 billion in back taxes, through criminal investigations and civil fines and proceeds. The ripple effects of the current administration’s assault on the IRS through firing staff and cutting agency funding will undoubtedly mean less enforcement, and less revenue—a drop estimated to be at least 10 percent—to fuel critical services for our nation.

The time for action is now. We must fight as hard as we can to stop the tax cuts Congress is working to lock in for the next decade or more, protect and fortify the IRS, and seize this opportunity to reshape our tax code into a powerful tool for racial justice. By preventing the creation of trillionaires and more equitably distributing income and wealth across all households, we can build a stronger, more stable, and more prosperous nation for all Americans.

The choice before us is clear: We can allow extreme wealth concentration to continue unchecked, risking the very foundations of our democracy and economy, or we can take bold action to create a more equitable future. Let’s choose wisely and prevent the trillionaires of tomorrow by investing in the families and children of today.

If you ask Eleanor

“Perhaps the day will come when the man who is paying a high income tax will say to himself ‘This is proof of my patriotism. The measures which are supported by this money are what make my country a better place to live in. They insure to me and to my children a greater security under the form of government which I have chosen.’”

– Eleanor Roosevelt, My Day  (May 31, 1937)