“All of our present liberalish billionaire populists who critique capitalism and want higher taxes—Soros, Buffet, Gates, Trump, etc.—beat the system years ago, once railed against government intrusion into markets and competition, and now, billions later, feel themselves exempt. So in Carnegie fashion, they sense before the twilight it’s time for a little magnanimity, one that will have absolutely no effect on their billion-dollar lifestyles….And if one high-profile magnate is making $70 million a year in interest, whether he pays $25 million or the higher $35 million is not as important as the sense of status and acclaim that greets his strikingly liberal positions on making the rich (i.e., those greedier families, making say $300-500,000,) pay their fair share—or else!” — Victor Davis Hanson
A simple fact about these guys is that, while they propose taxes on straight income, they rarely argue for taxes on wealth. They get little in the way of income taxes, especially the mostly highly taxed income of all, ie that from wages and salaries. Most of their cashflow comes from doing business, which for numerous reasons is taxed at far lower rates than income taxes.
Not that I want wealth taxes, but there are few things more annoying than a “socially conscious” billionaire with a marginal tax rate of less than 15% arguing that my taxes, which are at a marginal rate near 50%, should go up.