Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Wednesday is set to unveil legislation that would raise taxes on large corporations that pay their CEOs over 50 times more than the median worker, an effort to combat the decades-long trend of skyrocketing inequality in the United States.
According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the details of Sanders’ proposal Wednesday morning, the new bill “would raise the corporate tax rate for companies with gross receipts of over $100 million a year where the CEO is making anything more than 50 times the median worker.”
“Right now, I happen to believe that this country is on its way to an oligarchy.”
—Sen. Bernie Sanders
“The tax increase, on top of the existing 21% corporate tax rate, would add 0.5%, if the company were paying the CEO at a ratio of 50 to 1,” the Journal reported. “The increase would top out at 5%, if the CEO makes more than 500 times that of the median worker.”
The Vermont senator’s new legislation comes as he is set to preside over Senate Budget Committee hearing Wednesday that will focus primarily on wealth and income inequality. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person on the planet, declined Sanders’ invitation to attend the hearing, which will also feature testimony from an Amazon employee who works at the Bessemer, Alabama fulfillment center that’s currently in the middle of a closely watched and potentially groundbreaking union drive.
“I intend to talk about the most important issues facing working families,” Sanders told the Journal. “Right now, I happen to believe that this country is on its way to an oligarchy.”
Warren Gunnels, Sanders’ staff director, noted on Twitter that under the Vermont senator’s new bill, “Walmart, which pays its CEO nearly 1,000 times more than its average worker, would pay up to $855 million more in taxes.”
“CVS, which pays its CEO 790 times more than its average worker would pay up to $450 million more in taxes,” Gunnels said.
Under Bernie’s new bill:
Walmart, which pays its CEO nearly 1,000 times more than its average worker, would pay up to $855 million more in taxes.
CVS, which pays its CEO 790 times more than its average worker would pay up to $450 million more in taxes. https://t.co/GfgulI1by0
— Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) March 17, 2021
In a research report published last August, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) showed that top CEOs in the U.S. earned 320 times as much as the typical worker in 2019. Between 1978 and 2019, EPI found, CEO pay soared by 1,167% while typical worker pay grew by just 13.7%.
“While wage growth for the majority of Americans has remained relatively stagnant for decades, CEO compensation continues to balloon,” said EPI distinguished fellow Lawrence Mishel. “This has fueled the spectacular income growth of the top 0.1% and 1.0% and the growth of income inequality overall.”
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Common Dreams | Radio Free (2021-03-17T10:40:18+00:00) Sanders Bill Would Hike Taxes on Big Corporations That Pay CEOs Over 50 Times More Than Median Worker. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/03/17/sanders-bill-would-hike-taxes-on-big-corporations-that-pay-ceos-over-50-times-more-than-median-worker/
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