Even a liberal billionaire who’s spent years dumping fortunes into lefty pet tasks understands how economics actually works when push involves shove. Enter The Washington Put up proprietor Jeff Bezos.
Bezos gave CNBC co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin a actuality test on how ludicrous the left’s tax-the-rich scheme actually is when measured up in opposition to the info through the Could 20 version of Squawk Field. Sorkin tried cornering Bezos on the bevy of headlines within the media excoriating billionaires, decrying their wealth accumulation and vilifying them for supposedly not paying their fair proportion in taxes.
Bezos wasn’t fazed: “Politicians [vis-a-vis Sen. Elizabeth Warren] are utilizing the age-old method … of selecting a villain and pointing fingers, however the issue is that doesn’t remedy something.”
For all of the bluster concerning the want progressive taxation, Bezos anecdotally analyzed how a nurse in Queens in New York Metropolis (the literal epitome of lefty taxation) making $75,000 is caught with a $12,000 annual tax invoice. “How about we begin by having the nurse in Queens not pay taxes in any respect? Why is a nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a yr paying over $1,000 a month in taxes?” Sorkin didn’t have one in every of his sometimes snarky retorts to whip out in rebuttal, so he simply deflected to a different gotcha query on whether or not he must be paying increased taxes?
The billionaire once more dropped one other reality nuke: “We have already got essentially the most progressive tax system on the earth.” He continued: “The highest one p.c of taxpayers pay 40 p.c of all of the tax income. The underside half pay solely three p.c.” The unstated challenge, as Bezos concluded, is “a [government] spending downside. And that’s a expertise challenge. Let me offer you an instance: The New York Metropolis college system — they spend $44,000 per scholar — $44,000! That’s thirty p.c extra per scholar than different large cities like Chicago, L.A. and Boston. And it’s thrice greater than Miami and Houston. And by the way in which, New York Metropolis doesn’t get higher outcomes.”
Bravo @JeffBezos. Credit score the place credit score is due. You might inform that Sorkin wasn’t even listening to a factor he was saying. pic.twitter.com/h2FnO2mPPd
— Joe Vazquez (@JV3MRC) Could 20, 2026
Sorkin then used the bourgeoisie-hating ramblings of Sen. Warren to embarrass Bezos for paying a decrease efficient tax price when deductions are accounted for, even supposing the sum he pays remains to be measured in billions. Bezos swatted that speaking level down like an annoying fruit fly: “Folks typically say I don’t pay taxes. It’s not true. I pay billions of {dollars} in taxes and once more, if folks need me to pay extra billions then let’s have that debate. However don’t fake like that’s going to unravel the issue. You possibly can double the taxes I pay, and it’s not going to assist that trainer in Queens, I promise you.”
One of many different main factors Bezos hit Sorkin with is that the progressive tax rip-off routinely entails subsidizing demand via dangerous tax coverage whereas constraining provide via laws. It’s self-defeating, as Bezos concluded. “You can not subsidize demand and constrain provide. In the event you do, costs are going to skyrocket. However this isn’t anyone’s fault apart from authorities coverage.”
Earlier, Bezos emphasised this level by juxtaposing his firm Amazon with how the NYC public system is at present run below the leftists who run it:
If we ran Amazon the way in which New York Metropolis runs their college system, your packages would take six weeks to reach. We’d need to cost you a $100 supply charge after which when the bundle did lastly arrive, they’d have the mistaken merchandise in it anyway.
Is environment friendly authorities even an actual factor? No, and even a liberal billionaire who profiteered off of American capitalism understands this. It’s about time the remainder of the low-IQ flunkies within the media received it via their thick skulls too. However who’re we kidding?!
