Mike Bloomberg rolls out millionaire tax plan; Bernie Sanders legislation would ban fracking

While the political jockeying gets more attention, candidates in the 2020 Democratic presidential race are advancing serious policy proposals. The Washington Times takes a weekly look at some of them that may have flown under the radar.

Former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Saturday released a series of proposed tax increases, including a new special surtax on people making more than $5 million per year.

Mr. Bloomberg would raise the top individual income tax rate to 39.6%, up from its current level of 37% that was set by the 2017 GOP tax law.

He also would impose a 5% “surtax” on income above $5 million, which would apply to income both from capital and labor. His campaign estimated that it would affect less than 0.1% of taxpayers.

Proper investments in education and health care, the billionaire businessman said, “require new revenue — and a fairer, more progressive tax system that asks wealthy Americans like me to pay more.”

Mr. Bloomberg also wants to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. It had been at 35% before passage of the GOP tax law in 2017.

Mr. Bloomberg’s plan also would increase the capital gains tax rate to the same rate as ordinary income for taxpayers making more than $1 million per year, lower the estate tax threshold, and end a special small business deduction in the 2017 law.

Sanders on fracking

Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont last Friday introduced legislation to ban hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” across the United States.

Mr. Sanders, one of the front-runners in the crowded field of Democratic presidential contenders, calls for an “immediate” ban on new federal permits for fracking infrastructure and a ban on fracking within 2,500 feet of homes and schools by 2021. The proposal would ban fracking across the U.S. starting in 2025.

Mr. Sanders calls fracking, a process used to extract natural gas from the ground, a danger to the water supply and to the air people breathe.

“To top it all off, it’s contributing to climate change,” Mr. Sanders said. “If we are serious about clean air and drinking water, if we are serious about combating climate change, the only safe and sane way to move forward is to ban fracking nationwide.”

In keeping with the “just transition” tenets of the Green New Deal to combat climate change, the bill directs the Labor Department to try to craft a transition plan for affected employees in the fossil fuel industry.

Mr. Sanders introduced the Senate bill with Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon Democrat. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York Democrat, and Darren Soto, Florida Democrat, sponsored the House version of the bill.

Yang on Facebook ads

Tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang on Wednesday called for legislation that would ban Facebook from publishing “verifiably false” political ads on its platform.

“We need to make Facebook own up to its responsibility as a mature company and get away from this total copout that they’re like, ’We’re not a publisher, we’re a platform,’” Mr. Yang said at a CNN town hall in New Hampshire.

Mr. Yang said his first preference would be to sit down with a company like Facebook to say “do the right thing.”

“But if they don’t want to do the right thing, then we have a legislature for a reason,” he said. “We should just pass a law saying Facebook should not have verifiably false political advertisements on their platform. And if they do, then they should pay a penalty accordingly.”

Facebook has come under fire for continuing to allow political ads on its platform as other social media companies such as Twitter have taken steps to ban most political advertising.

Mr. Yang rolled out a series of technology policy priorities last year that called for addressing the “publisher vs. platform gray area” and working with companies to create algorithms that “minimize the spread of mis/disinformation.”

Steyer on education

Billionaire former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer on Thursday proposed doubling federal investments in kindergarten through 12th grade as part of a broader education plan.

“The smartest investment we as a society can make is in our people, and my plan will improve the quality of education every student receives regardless of ZIP code,” Mr. Steyer said.

The plan would boost teacher pay by instituting a 2-to-1 match for every dollar that states and school districts spend on teacher pay raises.

It also would include universal access to pre-K services and boost funding for local initiatives to “desegregate” schools.

Mr. Steyer would also ban for-profit charter schools, freeze federal funding for new charter schools, and expand apprenticeship programs in high school.