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Beneath this obnoxious stance, there is a true, core fact that I do feel like @aoc, @SenWarren, and other leftist politicians are skating over: European-style welfare states aren't paid for in Europe solely by "soaking the rich". The tax base is broad. washingtonpost.com/opinions/alexa…
@AOC @SenWarren Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and a bunch of other high-functioning European welfare states are collecting ~45% of GDP in taxes. That's TWICE the amount the US collects! You get that by having EVERYONE pay high taxes, in return you get high services.
@AOC @SenWarren A Danish worker pays on average around 35% in income taxes, then 25% in sales taxes. That's a lot of taxes! But they don't go bankrupt if they get sick and their kids have access to free higher education. It's a good deal!
@AOC @SenWarren That being said, clearly the rich are getting off far too cheap in the US. Obscenely, offensively cheap. Fuck 15% capital-gains taxes. But still, even when you fix that, you're going to have to raise more money to pay for broad, social programs. That's not a bad thing!
