Dynasties of wealth are repugnant to democracy, equal opportunity and the meritocratic ideal which supposedly stands at the heart of the American social contract. As such, The Social Democrat believes that wealth should not be passed on between generations. In this Guardian article, journalist Abi Wilkinson makes the case for a 100% inheritance tax to fund social needs.

Don't believe Republican pols when they claim that the nation is broke. As explained by economist Thomas Hungerford on the Economic Policy Institute site, "there is nothing about current spending commitments that are 'unaffordable' relative to the projected income generation of coming decades." For this reason, Hungerford argues, "the real fiscal challenge is simply the political problem of raising revenues that are sufficient to meet our spending needs."

America's right wing likes to complain about the nation's supposedly insufferable tax burden. As this Bloomberg article points out (with charts), the U.S. is among the least taxed among modern nations. A great dose of policy reality.

Joshua Bivens, research director at the Economic Policy Institute, counsels that congressional Democrats should resist tax cuts for the wealthy and should not argue against such cuts on the grounds of budget deficits, which Bivens does not see as problematic in the current economic environment. “It’s perfectly reasonable to ask why Speaker Ryan believes that the federal government has $3 trillion in revenue to give away to the top 1 percent,” Blivens writes, “but not $3 trillion to boost health coverage, or fix the nation’s eroded unemployment insurance system, or expand Social Security, or undertake substantial public investments.”

Trump & Co's assertion that tax cuts will spur economic growth and "lift all boats" is a thoroughly debunked carnard, explains the editoral board of the New York Times.The fact is, tax cuts, especially those skewed to the wealthy, merely exacerbate budget deficits, lead to cuts in needed services, or both.

May 24, 2017 – Tax cuts alone, particulary when targeted to the wealthy, have never been a reliable engine of economic growth, write Patricia Cohen and Nelson D. Schwartz in this New York Times piece. Trump and company may know this, but "tax cuts will spur economic growth" is a good cover story for shifting yet more of the American economy’s output to the 1%.

The Labor Party’s election manifesto calls for substantial increases in taxes on the five percent of British citizens making more than 80,000 pounds ($103,000) to finance college tuition, housing, healthcare and income support. Story in the New York Times, May 16 edition.