{"id":45695,"date":"2025-12-20T13:35:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T21:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45695"},"modified":"2025-12-20T13:35:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T21:35:28","slug":"mitt-47-romneys-post-career-call-to-tax-the-rich-met-with-kudos-and-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/20\/mitt-47-romneys-post-career-call-to-tax-the-rich-met-with-kudos-and-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitt \u201c47%\u201d Romney\u2019s Post-Career Call to Tax the Rich Met With Kudos and Criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Mitt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mitt Romney, then a Republican US senator from Utah, rode the chamber\u2019s subway in the Capitol in Washington, DC on May 21, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen Romney had real power,\u201d noted journalist David Sirota, \u201che fortified the rigged tax system that he\u2019s only now criticizing from the sidelines.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Corbett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 19, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a leaked fundraiser footage from the 2012 US presidential campaign, Republican candidate Mitt Romney<\/a> infamously claimed<\/a> that 47% of Americans are people \u201cwho believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare<\/a>, to food, to housing, to you name it.\u201d On Friday, the former US senator from Utah<\/a> published a New York Times<\/a><\/em> opinion piece<\/a> titled, \u201cTax the Rich<\/a>, Like Me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2012, political ads suggested that some of my policy proposals, if enacted, would amount to pushing grandma off a cliff. Actually, my proposals were intended to prevent that very thing from happening,\u201d Romney began the article, which was met with a range of reactions. \u201cToday, all of us, including our grandmas, truly are headed for a cliff: If, as projected<\/a>, the Social Security<\/a> Trust Fund runs out in the 2034 fiscal year, benefits will be cut by about 23%.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gavin Newsom Wants a \u2018Big Tent Party,\u2019 But Opposes Wealth Tax Supported by Large Majority of Americans<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"ICE<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A Chilling Assertion\u2019: Trump Officials Falsely Claim Citizens Must Carry Immigration Docs to Prove Their Status<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTypically, Democrats insist on higher taxes, and Republicans<\/a> insist on lower spending. But given the magnitude of our national debt as well as the proximity of the cliff, both are necessary,\u201d he argued. \u201cOn the spending-cut front… Social Security and Medicare<\/a> benefits for future retirees should be means-tested<\/a>\u2014need-based, that is to say\u2014and the starting age for entitlement payments should be linked to American life expectancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd on the tax front, it\u2019s time for rich people like me to pay more,\u201d wrote Romney, whose\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0net worth last year, when he announced his January 2025\u00a0retirement<\/a>\u00a0from the Senate, was $235 million. \u201cI long opposed increasing the income level on which\u00a0FICA<\/a>\u00a0employment taxes are applied (this year, the cap is $176,100). No longer; the consequences of the cliff have changed my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/x.com\/alivitali\/status\/2002036989965857036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2002036989965857036%7Ctwgr%5Eee47020dd9a98aeca06b1a7427b2ae9b220a0830%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fmitt-romney<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe largest source of additional tax revenues is also probably the most compelling for fairness and social stability. Some call it closing tax code loopholes, but the term \u2018loopholes\u2019 grossly understates their scale. \u2018Caverns\u2019 or \u2018caves\u2019 would be more fitting,\u201d he continued, calling for rewriting capital gains tax treatment rules for \u201cmega-estates over $100 million.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cSealing the real estate caverns would also raise more revenue,\u201d Romney noted. \u201cThere are more loopholes and caverns to be explored and sealed for the very wealthy, including state and local tax deductions, the tax rate on carried interest<\/a>, and charity limits on the largest estates at death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some welcomed or even praised Romney\u2019s piece. Iowa state Rep. JD Scholten (D-1), a progressive who has previously\u00a0run<\/a><\/a>\u00a0for both chambers of Congress,\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0social media<\/a>: \u201cTax the rich! Welcome to the coalition, Mitt!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Me and my old rival Mitt Romney finally agree on something \u2014 it's time to close the loophole that lets the ultra-wealthy use death to cheat taxes. pic.twitter.com\/liXeqUbAdJ<\/a><\/p>— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 19, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>