Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) shares his remarks during the first panel by Brookings Institute
“Your voluntary wealth tax payment will serve as a powerful example in your pursuit of wealth tax imposition nationwide. It would be obscene for rich congressmen to demand such sacrifice from others without leading by example. And while you have less than a billion dollars, these sort of ‘tax the rich’ plans have always in American history spread to lower income targets rather rapidly.“
Today Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist sent a letter to Rep. Ro Khanna (D – Calif.) to help Khanna combat his self-stated “moral failure” of wealth inequality.
The $232.7 million net worth Khanna is calling for a five percent federal wealth tax to be imposed on Americans, arguing that “wealth inequality is the moral failure of our time.”
Norquist provided Congressman Khanna a way to rectify this “moral failure” with instructions on how to submit a voluntary extra tax payment to the Treasury Department, even graciously including a pre-addressed envelope for the lawmaker’s use.
As noted in the letter, Khanna is 1200 times richer than the median American household.
Applied to Khanna’s own wealth, his 5% wealth tax means he should voluntarily and cheerfully pay the Treasury $11,635,000.
Norquist added:
“Please be prepared to welcome federal revenue personnel onto your property in order to produce a comprehensive inventory of all taxable assets including family heirlooms, artwork, jewelry, vintage comic books and Mickey Mantle rookie cards.
The comprehensive list of your assets will be fully safeguarded by the IRS and its contractors.“
Below is the full text of the letter. A PDF version of the letter can be found here.
Dear Congressman Khanna:
You can take a public step away from inequality.
You recently called for the federal government to impose a five percent (5%) wealth tax on the American people. In doing so, you wrote: “Wealth inequality is the moral failure of our time.”
Your estimated current wealth is $232,700,000 according to the publication NOTUS, News of the United States.
The median American household net worth is $192,900 according to the Federal Reserve.
Congratulations on being 1200 times wealthier than the median American.
To combat this moral failure, I assume you have already written a voluntary extra tax check to the United States Treasury in an amount representing 5% of your wealth. Treasury has allowed such voluntary extra tax payments since 1843.
Five percent of your estimated current wealth is $11,635,000. Enough to build nearly ten feet of California high-speed rail.
If you have not made this payment, please do so now using the enclosed, pre-addressed envelope.
Your voluntary wealth tax payment will serve as a powerful example in your pursuit of wealth tax imposition nationwide.
It would be obscene for rich congressmen to demand such sacrifice from others without leading by example. And while you have less than a billion dollars, these sort of “tax the rich” plans have always in American history spread to lower income targets rather rapidly.
Please be prepared to welcome federal revenue personnel onto your property in order to produce a comprehensive inventory of all taxable assets including family heirlooms, artwork, jewelry, vintage comic books and Mickey Mantle rookie cards.
The comprehensive list of your assets will be fully safeguarded by the IRS and its contractors.
When you drop your payment into the mailbox please capture the moment for use on social media. I will help you spread the word.
You may also make your payment online at Pay.gov.
With your principled leadership and example we can address what you have denounced as “the moral failure of our time.”
Onward,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
