Taxes play a central role in politics and elections as they directly affect individuals and businesses financial well-being and are responsible for funding essential government services. Democrats generally advocate for progressive taxation, where higher-income individuals and corporations have higher taxes compared to lower-income individuals. They also often prioritize using taxes to address social issues by funding social welfare programs, education, healthcare, and infrastructure projects. On the other hand, Republicans typically favor lower taxes, for all individuals and large corporations, as they believe this stimulates economic growth and incentivizes investment. It also aligns with their beliefs of limited government intervention and individual freedom. 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy pledges to not raise taxes and aims to stimulate our economy without raising taxes. When it comes to taxing large corporations, he aims to maintain the current tax rates however eliminate deductions and put a stop to loopholes in our current system. Kennedy also believes that increasing the capital gains tax will limit investment in our economy and promises to exempt Bitcoin from taxes when converted to or from U.S. dollars.

Quotes:

“I’m not going to raise taxes. I don’t think that that’s the right thing to do right now. I think we really need to stimulate our economy.”

“ exempt the conversion of bitcoin to the U.S. dollar from capital gains taxes.”

• Kennedy Administration

“Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining is a bad idea,”

Jill Stein:

Stein advocates for a progressive income tax system, proposing that high-income earners should be taxed at rates between 55 to 60 percent. Additionally, she proposes implementing a financial transaction tax, levying a 0.5% tax on sales of stocks, bonds, and derivatives in Wall Street transactions, as it is estimated that this tax would generate approximately $300 billion in new revenue annually. Stein also emphasizes the need to rewrite the tax code to prioritize benefits for working families and impoverished Americans. She argues that Wall Street, large corporations, and wealthy individuals should bear a greater tax burden, ensuring they contribute their “fair share” to government revenue.

Quotes:

“ America wasn’t meant to be an aristocracy. 22 billionaires have as much money as 50 percent of the US population. We need a progressive income tax, with the rich paying at least at the 55 to 60 percent level.”

“It’s outrageous that the wealth of the top 1/10 of 1% has risen in the past decade while their taxes are cut via capital gains. No one is even talking, Democrat or Republican, about restoring the capital gains tax.”

“making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, we can lower taxes for the vast majority of Americans, and ensure that our tax dollars go towards the things that actually improve our lives: jobs, education, healthcare, and preventing climate catastrophe.”

Cornel West:

West believes that we must raise taxes for wealthy corporations and supports implementing a wealth tax on all billionaire holdings and transactions and he promises to end all tax loopholes for the rich. He claims that economic justice in America has been overshadowed by greed, because unequal taxation benefits the rich at the expense of everyone else. Additionally, that the lack of adequate and fair representation in taxation policies has allowed the wealthy to have lower tax rates, while those in poverty and the working class are overlooked and marginalized.

Quotes:

“ taxes ought not to go to the military side of the budget but rather the social side of the budget”

“the most powerful and the most wealthy ought to have some public accountability be it wealth tax, be it more progressive income tax,”

“Taxation without representation is now reflected in policies that allow the wealthy to be coddled and under-taxed while the perennially poor, working poor, and ‘new poor’ are ignored and rendered invisible”

Marianne Williamson:

Marianne Williamson advocates for restructuring our tax system to reduce income inequality and ensure fairness. Her plan involves enacting fair taxes on the wealthy and corporations while lowering taxes for working people. She proposes closing loopholes benefiting large corporations, raising the estate tax, and eliminating Wall Street tax breaks. Williamson also emphasizes the need to protect the middle class from tax hikes and aims to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy, including restoring the estate tax on estates over $5 million. Overall she supports raising taxes to finance progressive initiatives and programmes, while prioritizing a fair and equitable distribution of the tax burden.

Quotes:

“Over time, the tax burden has been shifted away from corporations and the wealthy, and onto the backs of working people. For example, business funding of the federal government has fallen dramatically, from over 33% of all federal revenue in 1945 down to only about 6% in 2018. I would reverse this trend, so that corporations and the very wealthy pay their fair share”

“The estate tax may be the fastest way to reduce wealth inequality.”

“ So we are going to have to raise taxes, but we can do it in a way that ensures the burden is shared fairly and equitably: we’re going to tax the rich. The rich will assuredly howl and scream about injustice and being job creators, but here are some tax policies that we can change.” -Williamson Administration

Donald Trump: 

Trump’s tax plan would sharply reduce the top tax rate on individual income from 39.6% to 25% and broadly reduce rates for individuals with lower incomes. His plan would also lower the tax rate on corporate income from 35% to 15%, and apply this 15% to other “business income”. He aims to make both the expiring individual income tax cuts and expiring estate tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent as well as taxing large private university endowments. Overall, Trump’s tax policy is characterized by a strong emphasis on reducing tax burdens for everyone overall, including businesses and the wealthy, as he believes that these tax cuts would stimulate economic growth, create jobs, and benefit the middle class. 

Quotes:

“Half of America doesn’t even pay a single penny in federal income taxes,federal spending is so dangerous: half the country …. So the idea that the lower class is shouldering the tax burden is absurd, because the bottom half of Americans pay no federal income tax at all.”

“You’re all getting the biggest tax cuts because we’re doing additional cuts and a brand new Trump economic boom like you’ve never seen before,” 

“I am lowering taxes far more than any other candidate. Any negotiated increase by Congress to my proposal would still be lower than current!”

Joe Biden: 

President Biden’s main purpose is to build a more equitable and fairer tax system that rewards work, not wealth. His fiscal year 2024 budget proposal includes extensive tax reforms, including increasing corporate, capital gains, and dividend taxes, along with expanding tax credits for families. Business taxes would rise, with the corporate income tax rate going up to 28 percent and adjustments to global income taxes. Estate and wealth taxes would tighten, and Biden plans to increase excise and individual income taxes, particularly for high earners. These reforms aim to redistribute wealth and support working families as taxes would increase for corporations and high-income individuals. 

Quotes:

“I think it’s about time we started giving tax breaks and tax benefits to working-class families and middle-class families, instead of just the very wealthy,”

“I propose a minimum tax of 25% for billionaires. Just 25%. That would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years. Imagine what that could do for America.” 

““No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, a nurse,”