Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 70% Tax on NFL

The unofficial “not the sharpest tool in Congress,” left-wing wunderkind Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has said that her proposed “70% tax on the ultra-wealthy” would only hit wealthy time owners and not the regular players like those who took the field during the recent Super Bowl.

While Cortez’s comments were in response to a joke, there was nothing funny about the way she once again showed her fundamental misunderstanding of even the most basic economic concepts.
Surely You Must Be Joking?

In response to a joke made by GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas about imposing a top rate of 70 percent on the Patriots to even out the competition, the New York Democrat said the average player would not earn enough to be affected.

The joke, which was an obvious jab by Crenshaw at Ocasio-Cortez, who has talked about a “70% tax on billionaires,” sparked this tweet from the freshman Congresswoman.

The average NFL salary is $2.1 million, so most players would never experience a 70% rate.

The owners who refuse to hire Kaepernick would, though.

Ocasio-Cortez, the self-described Democratic socialist, had previously suggested imposing a 70% tax rate on those with incomes in excess of $10 million during an interview on 60 Minutes, in order to pay for a so-called “Green New Deal” — which would be a massive investment in clean energy infrastructure, aiming to eliminate carbon emissions in a little more than a decade.

According to Fox News, the owners of both Super Bowl teams – the Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams – are indeed billionaires.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has an estimated net worth of $6.6 billion, according to Forbes. He purchased the team in 1994 for $172 million – it is now worth an estimated $3.8 billion. Kraft also owns Gillette Stadium – the Patriots home field – as well as many other sports ventures. He has donated $600 million to charity.

Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke is married to Walmart heiress Ann Walton. He has a net worth estimated at $8.5 billion. The prominent real estate developer became sole owner of the Rams in 2020 – the team is now valued around $3.2 billion.

Kroenke also owns the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, and the Premier League soccer club Arsenal, as well as various stadiums and media properties.

While Ocasio-Cortez noted the average NFL salary is $2.1 million, some of the players in this year’s big game took home much heftier wages in 2018.

Taxing the Rich – a Typical Call From the Left Wing Playbook

Ocasio-Cortez is far from the only left-leaning lawmaker to propose hiking taxes on the wealthiest of Americans. Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders recently introduced an expansion of the estate tax, the so-called “death tax” – to a rate of 77% for those passing on assets worth more than $1 billion. Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, meanwhile, has called for a 2 percent tax on ultra-high net worth individuals — those she describes as having more than $50 million in assets. The rate would rise to 3 percent for those with assets valued at more than $1 billion.

Tax hike proposals are gaining steam in the run-up to the 2020 election. A recent Fox News Poll showed a majority – 51 percent – of respondents said they favored spending more on domestic programs over cutting taxes and reducing spending. Their preferred method of financing those projects is through taxing the wealthy. About 70 percent of voters favored raising taxes on those making more than $10 million each year.

Although President Trump’s tax cuts have been stimulating the economy as he anticipated, expect Democrats vying for the White House to run on their usual “tax the rich” platform.

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