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The collective wealth of America’s billionaires, including Elon Musk, is a shocking $5.2 trillion.1 Imagine if we had a fraction of that every year to increase funding for health care, Social Security, and the fight to address climate change?
Instead the rich are just getting richer, with Elon Musk receiving a $56 billion pay package from Tesla.2 The ultra-rich and corporations are paying even less in taxes since the Trump tax cuts were passed in 2017. While billionaires and corporations grow in power and make record sums of money, Elon Musk has also engaged in union busting3 and tried to destroy the National Labor Relations Board, the agency charged with protecting workers.4
Congress must raise taxes on millionaires, billionaires, and corporations to protect democracy and increase tax revenue available for the public good.
While Musk makes billions and billions, Tesla paid no federal income taxes between 2018 and 2022.5
If Congress doesn’t act to tax the rich, it’s a threat to our democracy and every single one of the social programs we rely on: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the fight against climate change, public education, and so much more.
Billionaire CEOs and corporations will keep pushing for deeper tax cuts and less regulation — threatening to leave the average American paying higher prices and earning lower wages with a disappearing social safety net.
Thanks for taking action,
Joey and the team at Demand Progress
Sources:
- Americans for Tax Fairness, “U.S. Billionaires Now Worth a Record $5.2 Trillion,” November 30, 2023.
- NBC, “Elon Musk wins Tesla shareholder vote for $56 billion pay package,” June 13, 2024.
- Politico, “Musk’s SpaceX seeks to blow up federal labor enforcer,” January 4, 2024.
- Ibid.
- Yahoo, “Tesla paid no federal income taxes while paying executives $2.5 billion over five years,” March 13, 2024.
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