Phil Robinson
Robert ReichIf Elon Musk can afford to lose $200 billion in a single year, he can afford a wealth tax.
Smerks1109@rbreich Imagine the good he could have done with that $200 BILLION
Steve Popovich@Smerks1109 @rbreich except, of course, that it was never his intention to do so.
TC Won't Give In To Lies
James Gleick@rbreich Truth. And it’s not just that he can afford it. It’s that losing $200 billion makes not the slightest difference to his standard of living, his quality of life, or his ability to buy anything he wants.
cowvin@rbreich It still boggles my mind how poor Republicans can keep voting for more tax cuts for the rich. They don't seem to realize that that means more taxes on themselves.
Tackyderm@rbreich lucky for him the new GQP house is there to protect him.
Darnell Clayton 
@rbreich I am skeptical that a #WealthTax will work in America (or anywhere really), as the wealthy would simply move their assets overseas.
It has been tried before & failed.
Evannakita@darnell @rbreich This article is interesting, in part because it actually goes into how Warren’s plan was substantially *different* from any of the failed policies, and how the plan was designed keeping those previous failures in mind!
As the article explains, US citizens still pay taxes overseas, so moving assets wouldn’t be a way to dodge taxes. And there would also be a substantial tax on these assets for anyone who renounces their citizenship!
@evannakita @rbreich The article also address some the legalities of the tax, which would potentially be struck down by the current #SCOTUS.
satdecker 🐰⚡₿
Steffen Voß@rbreich If he lost 200 billion - who found it?
Ligma Johnson@rbreich way to kick a man when he's down.
Diana Larsen@rbreich it might be a kindness.
onecaliberal@rbreich If you can build a dick rocket, you can afford a wealth tax.
@rbreich sure, I agree. It’s not like he’s using the money to advance the lives of people in any positive manner. They also need to run a security review to check on trusting this fool with a missile system.
Angie is drawing@rbreich A wealth tax would be amazing, but the US would put it all into police and military spending…where everyone’s taxes are already going.
sitnuokHe already paid the keep talk tax..
Red Shirt Dude@rbreich More likely he'll never pay tax again with those kinds of carryover losses.
mattkingsfan@rbreich no shit
MerryShari@rbreich And just think how much less he’ll have to pay in taxes now.
author_is_ShrikeTron🔠💉x5@rbreich You can't tax unrealized value because it's all "virtual" until conversion into real money!
Unless it's property like a home. 🤔
Danatheone@rbreich Would seem reasonable when there is a peak wealth correlation with a peak stock market would be so smart to have an automatic tax take the gain before it becomes a loss
Camille Tschaggeny@rbreich - Damn right!
Flamingal@rbreich As I always tell my husband when he talks about how much “money” we made that day…”on paper”. Now he says it himself because we know that’s true.
@rbreich Agreed👏🏾. Such a tax would need to be global in application, so that such an individual doesn't just move to somewhere like the Bahamas or another such place that is known for being a tax haven.
enmodo ⚛️ 🧬 🇺🇦 🍉@rbreich he's probably got tax attorneys who have figured out a way to turn this into tax loss for life so he'll never pay taxes again.
Abort The Court@rbreich The losses are deductible? Probably ensure he will never pay a dine in tax.
NerdGirlInVR 💜🇺🇸🌎🐘💜@rbreich how much money will ever be enough for these #billionaires?
While those that work their asses off to contribute to their immense wealth struggle to get by?
PAY YOUR FAIR SHARE! #ElonOverlord 🤬 and all the rest.
Lin Zhang@rbreich no doubt he can afford it, but do you do something just because you can afford it? Pls enlighten me if you could with your logic.
verb (printfJess) 🦄@rbreich he lives in a country where there's no basic healthcare. And where women are being hunted down and put into prison because they didn't want to bring a child into that society.
His solution is to make money off sending people into space.
SHAME. SHAME ON ELON.
Chao-c'@rbreich These were never real money nor real wealth, in the first place.
The trick is, that government likes to collect taxes as more or less real money. Not as shares or so. Elon would have to sell shares first. Which would mean higher supply, less market value. Which is what I say: the wealth was always speculative, never real. (But there is of course advantage in pretending it is real...)
Learn economy basics first...
Gargravar@rbreich ... at what point in time would you tax it? Then, now, in the future? It is a fallacy to think share value is wealth, it is not. It is a marker of potential future success. Even using your own logic, it's depressing that you can't see the contradiction.
@rbreich there is only one way to bring the financial markets to heel.... Transaction taxation. That's all that's needed.
babelmonk 🐠@rbreich I'm not particularly defending him but taxes are something everyone wants to avoid. Large companies and high net worth individuals as well as those on lower incomes. The numbers are completely different but the context is the same. Governments have to legislate to make people pay tax, and people will always try to avoid doing so - it's a fact of life.
cwjohan 🎸@rbreich, I don't think one should call it a loss. So many people are incorrectly using that word. Really, it's mostly a decline in asset value or assessed wealth. Asset value can recover rapidly in some cases and can rapidly decline in other cases. The gain or loss isn't realized until the owner of the assets sells them.
I'm sure I'm telling you something you already knew quite well, but for the general public it's a different matter. Just asking for more precision in your speech.
Daniël Franke 🏳️🌈@rbreich This goes for every billionaire.
William Bell@rbreich I think he might actually have to pay some tax this year because all of these sales of Tesla stock he is making to find margin calls on all the loans he took out. They constitute transactions under US tax law and thus trigger a taxable event.
Even though the share price is underwater versus a year ago, its still a long way up from when he first invested.
XAvaNAX@rbreich in a fake world with fake evaluation, Capitalists are OK to lose fake money that is to say stock option.
When it comes to money on their day to day bank account and when it comes to pay taxes then you are right : they do anything to avoid any support to the people and the society #toutcramer #mangerlesfinanciers
When it comes to money on their day to day bank account and when it comes to pay taxes then you are right : they do anything to avoid any support to the people and the society #toutcramer #mangerlesfinanciers
ZZ Bottom
mdhh_usa 🇺🇸
Aleff@rbreich he rsther looses $$ than paying txs, i guess....
Ahri Boy 
🇺🇦🏳️⚧️@rbreich Imagine Elon buying and making Reddit bankrupt.
Brian Orce 
@rbreich I'd rather watch him torch his entire fortune. The rest can pay taxes though.
Jeff@rbreich musk is selling Data to anyone who will buy it
@rbreich it was never abt being able to afford it tho
Paul Yager 
@rbreich exactly!
JackieTechnoHippie@rbreich I propose a 99% wealth tax for everybody who is over a hundred million dollars until they fall below that
Karen E. Lund 💙💛@rbreich A couple of days ago I posted that, should I ever decide to delete my Twitter account entirely, I would try to get it suspended instead.
THIS is the post that would do it.
GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺@rbreich Especially since he's still #2 on the worldwide rich list.
Nickski
Drezil 
@rbreich he can. And he payed more taxes than anybody else .. 🤷♀️
@rbreich and he can buy toilet paper for Twitter bathrooms.
faruqymahmed@rbreich
hopefully no one is in arrears
hopefully no one is in arrears
@rbreich Are you sure it’s his money? After all the Tesla program was a nightmare financially but they could not let it fold as the level of debt was so high. May be it’s the same with Twitter!
SagrilarusNot for long.