In less than 30 days, Joe Biden will be inaugurated as the 46^th president of the United States.  Every new president comes armed with a long to-do list but perhaps no other president since Franklin Roosevelt has faced the challenges that Joe Biden will confront when he walks into the Oval Office on the afternoon of January 20^th for the first time as president of the United States.  

In my last blog, I talked about the concept of shared sacrifice and steps that all Americans can take to help our country.  Joe Biden has the potential to make a massive difference but he is going to need help. Whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or none of the above, we all have an interest in President-Elect Biden’s success.  Each of us has something to contribute to the work that needs to be done. But there is one group in particular that should feel obligated to step up:  the richest 1% of Americans, who are defined by earning an average income of $758,434 or more, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Today, the 1% Club controls 30% of all U.S. household wealth and its members contribute over 40% of campaign contributions. That gives the 1% Club enormous influence over both business and politics in the United States.   

The 1% Club should be motivated to advocate for the change that this country so desperately needs for two basic reasons.  The first is to use their influence for the greater good and to build their legacy.  Let’s call this reason the “to whom much is given, much is required” reason.  The second is out of fear.  If we continue to march down the path of inequality, the democracy that has created the richest nation in the history of the world will, at some point, cease to exist.  If the wealth and power of the 1% continues to grow at the expense of the 99% then at some point in the very near future, the 99% will stop playing the game. Here are four changes the 1% club should advocate for that would help create more opportunities for the 99% and by doing so would create a more equitable America in the future:

1. A fair tax structure.  Today’s tax code is 2,652 pages long, and has been cobbled together by politicians who have been influenced by campaign contributions made by wealthy donors who are members of the 1% Club.  According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 60 of the Fortune 500 companies paid ZERO in taxes in 2018 on $79 billion in profits.   The current system is not fair, and it favors the rich over the poor.  The 1% Club should advocate for an easy to understand, simple 10-page tax code that is FAIR for all Americans.
2. Increase the opportunity for every American.  From 1979 to 2019, the top 1% earners saw their average annual wages rise from $291,000 to $758,000, a 160% jump.  During the same time period, the bottom 90% — the vast majority of Americans — have seen their annual pay inch up from an average $31,000 to $39,000, a 26% increase over 40 years, EPI figures show.  Today in America, we have the 10^th highest child poverty rate with nearly 13 million kids stuck in poverty.   We have a “Lack of Opportunity Crisis” in the country for people at the bottom rung of the ladder who are born there, through no fault of their own.  The 1% Club should advocate for a simple Every Kid Has a Chance Program for every child who lives below the poverty line in America. The program would consist of: A. Three meals a day until the age of 22; B. Free basic Medicare; and C. Free education until the age of 22.  Adopting the Every Kid has a Chance Program would be a long-term investment in creating productive citizens and taxpayers of the future vs. the government funding kids who are stuck in poverty and spend their lives addicted to government programs and who have a greater chance of winding up in the prison system.  You tell me which road leads to a better America.
3. Increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour.  The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 doesn’t cut it.  This adds up to $15,000 per year.  A family cannot pay rent, feed themselves, buy clothing and health insurance for $15,000 per year.  By raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, those most in need would receive more money from their jobs.  It is far better to receive money from the marketplace in the form of higher compensation than a handout from the government in the form of welfare.
4. Make all of our public schools awesome by the end of the decade.  Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education ruling, “It is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education.  Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”  The reality in America today is that our children who are born into poverty do not have the equal opportunity that Chief Justice Warren wrote about.  Public schools in wealthy districts have smaller class sizes and spend significantly more per pupil than schools in poor districts.  The 1% Club should advocate for an Equal Education Act where the federal government would create an Apollo-like program  to make all public schools AWESOME by the end of this decade. Nearly 90% of kids in America attend our public schools. There is no better way to invest in our future than to invest in the education of our children.   

How do you pay for this?  A very simple way:

Scrap the cap on the Social Security tax. 

Currently, all Americans pay a Social Security tax of 6.2% on the first $132,900 of income.  Above that amount, the Social Security tax is ZERO.  So, the factory worker makes $40,000 a year and pays $2,480 toward Social Security.  The big league ballplayer or CEO makes $10 million a year and today pays $8,240.  If the CEO paid the same percentage as the factory worker on all earnings, then the CEO would be paying $620,000.  By scrapping the cap on the Social Security tax, an additional $130 billion per year would be raised so that we could pay for these investments. Eighty percent of Americans support scrapping the cap.

As we change administrations and we think about what kind of a country we want the United States to be, now is the perfect time for all of the wealthiest Americans to ask what they can do for the country instead of what the country can do for them.   

For more information about these proposals and others, please download my book, “Presidential Playbook 2020: 16 Nonpartisan Solutions to Save America.”