Third Way Founders Jon Cowen & Jim Kessler tell us: Economic Populism is a Dead End for Democrats

[PSPS]

21. "there are 300,000 tax filers who earn more than $1 million"

The political problems of liberal populism are bad enough. Worse are the actual policies proposed by left-wing populists. The movement relies on a potent "we can have it all" fantasy that goes something like this: If we force the wealthy to pay higher taxes (there are 300,000 tax filers who earn more than $1 million), close a few corporate tax loopholes, and break up some big banks then—presto!—we can pay for, and even expand, existing entitlements. Meanwhile, we can invest more deeply in K-12 education, infrastructure, health research, clean energy and more.

That's a low figure, of course. But, nevertheless, this is language used to mask the fact that the wealth earned by these people is literally difficult to even comprehend. I know some of these people. They buy their kids multi-million-dollar homes in cash as wedding gifts. Bored on a Friday afternoon? Here, take my always-paid-off-every-month limit-free credit card down to the boat dealer and buy a boat to play with over the weekend.

Nobody needs more than $2 million in annual income, and even that is insanely generous. Every dollar in income over that amount should be taxed at 90%.