Rutger Bregman Quotes
Almost no one raises the real issue of tax avoidance, right? And of the rich just not paying their fair share.
Bregman, Rutger. "The Cost of Inequality." World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, 29 Jan. 2019, Davos, Switzerland.
His minimum tax proposal was for the income over $10 million was 35%. For income between $1 million and $10 million, it was 30%. At the time, he found that his secretary, everyone who worked in his office, and the waiter who served him lunch, all paid a higher income tax rate than he did. President Obama, in a great struggle with the Republicans who fought to retain the lower tax rates for the wealthy with deductions, was able to terminate the Bush tax cuts for the very rich.
Reacting to proposals to reduce the capital gains tax:
This became known as the Buffet Principle—that the very rich should not pay a lower tax rate than the workers who make far less money than they do. President Barack Obama used this principle by name in calling for the 2011 Jobs Act which would eliminate some of the loopholes and exemptions by which the rich could avoid some or much or their tax obligation.
He was one of the richest men in America, who thought that the tax burden on the very wealthy was too low given the needs of the nation and the ability of the wealty to pay..
Rutger C. Bregman is a Dutch popular historian and author. He has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics, including Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World, which has been translated into thirty-two languages. His work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian and the BBC. He has been described by The Guardian as the "Dutch wunderkind of new ideas" and by TED Talks as "one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers". His TED Talk, "Poverty Isn't a Lack of Character; It's a Lack of Cash", was chosen by TED curator Chris Anderson as one of the top ten of 2017.
