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‘I don’t think we should have billionaires’: mayor Zohran Mamdani in his own words
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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politics
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I totally agree with the no billionaire concept - but I don't even think that is the point of contention. I hate that we have been spinning on this for a decade. The real issue his HOW we do it from both a strategic and execution perspective
Do you implement changes slowly to minimize resistance? Do you do a lot at once to ensure changes don't stall? Do we have an income tax? How do we tax non-liquid assets? What if those assets are held outside the US? And so on...
Most people don't want billionaires. Let's shift the discussion so that is the assumption we are starting with - and now we just have to implement.
For starters: Stop allowing people to borrow money against securities. Most wealthy people live and invest on borrowed cash which compounds their wealth. It’s a strategy that only works if you have a lot of money.
Changes in tax laws need to happen. People using the borrowing strategy above pay very little income tax. They often get tax breaks for the interest on the loans. Their real income is capital gains which gets taxed at near poverty levels. Someone making 40,000-85,000USD gets a marginal tax rate of 22%. Capitals gains tax is 15%.
I love it. This should be the discussion.