Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) is not alone in her call for a 70 percent marginal tax rate on the rich. Her progressive counterpart, freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), suggested in an interview last week that an even higher rate may be appropriate to fund high-cost programs.
Speaking to women’s rights activist Zainab Salbi on “Through Her Eyes,” Omar offered up some suggestions for how to fund programs like Medicare for All or the Green New Deal.
“One of them is that we can increase the taxes that people are paying who are the extremely wealthy in our communities,” she said. “So 70 percent, 80 percent, we’ve had it as high as 90 percent.”
“The 1 percent must pay their fair share,” Omar continued.
The #MarginalTaxRate is nothing new. For much of modern history, the rate has been between 70-92%.
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 3, 2019
With wealth inequality at an all time high, this is a necessary tool to lift millions out of poverty, fund #MedicareForAll, a #GreenNewDeal, and cancel student debt. pic.twitter.com/OcStIcPbBc
Omar later clarified that she agrees with AOC's call for a 70 percent marginal tax rate on the rich.
"For the record, I'm with @AOC," she tweeted. "If you're earning more than $10 million, those earnings should be taxed at 70%. And the American people are with us."
The subject of taxes on the rich also came up during an appearance on “The Daily Show” last week.
Omar argued the U.S. has a “problem of moral courage” rather than one of scarcity.
“America has money. ... We don’t have a problem of scarcity really. What we have is a problem of moral courage. Our budgets are supposed to be an example of our moral values, and so this is why I got on the Budget Committee because I’m excited to make sure that we have a budget that’s reflective of our values,” she said.
Omar added: “We need to make sure that we’re holding the special interest accountable, that we’re getting money out of politics, that we are taxing the uber-rich, that the one percent pays their fair share.”