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More than 200 millionaires \u2014 many of them American \u2014 have presented a manifesto to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to \u201ctax the ultra-rich\u201d \u2014 including themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The call, issued in an open letter<\/a> Wednesday entitled \u201cThe Cost of Extreme Wealth,\u201d comes just as the U.S. hit its $34.1 trillion debt limit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The non-partisan U.S. Congressional Budget Office<\/a> has linked the massive tax cuts granted during the Trump administration \u2014 mostly benefiting the wealthy and corporations \u2014 to a $1 trillion deficit in 2020 alone<\/a>. Yet Republicans<\/a> are now talking about shaving Social Security and Medicare<\/a> to save money, not raising taxes on the rich.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cTax the ultra rich and do it now,\u201d ordered the letter to the Davos forum by the American and British Patriotic Millionaires<\/a> organizations, TaxMeNow<\/a> and Millionaires for Humanity<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Wealthy heir Abigail Disney blasted Davos in a statement as a \u201cfarce\u201d for failing to address the issue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cExtreme wealth is eating our world alive. It is undermining our democracies, destabilizing our economies, and destroying our climate,\u201d she added. \u201cBut for all their talk about solving the world\u2019s problems, the attendees of Davos refuse to discuss the only thing that can make a real impact \u2014 taxing the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Taxing the wealthy is \u201csimple, common-sense economics,\u201d said the letter. \u201cIt is an investment in our common good and a better future that we all deserve, and as millionaires we want to make that investment.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The \u201chistory of the last five decades is a story of wealth flowing nowhere but upwards,\u201d the letter noted. \u201cIn the last few years, this trend has greatly accelerated. In the first two years of the pandemic, the richest 10 men in the world doubled their wealth while 99% of people saw their incomes fall.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n