Wednesday, February 18, 2026

WSJ: Billionaires' Low Taxes Becoming a Problem for Economy

Tax avoidance by the superwealthy is an economic issue as well as a political one

Posted by qcp at 12:33 PM | 21 COMMENTS | permalink

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Well, look at this: The wealth gap is so wide even the Billionaires' Journal has to recognize it. Gift link: Billionaires' Low Taxes Are Becoming a Problem for the Economy www.wsj.com/finance/bill ...

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-- Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis (@jeffjarvis.bsky.social) Feb 18, 2026 at 6:23 AM

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"But debate about how much tax billionaires pay is likely to grow as America's fiscal situation deteriorates and its wealth gap widens. Data from the Federal Reserve shows that only the richest 1% of households have grown their share of overall U.S. wealth since 1990. Their share hit a record 32% in the third quarter of 2025, equivalent to $54.8 trillion.

Gains made by the billionaire class, the very top 0.1% of households and a subset of the 1%, have eclipsed the merely extremely rich. This group's share of U.S. net wealth has risen nearly 6 percentage points to 14.4% since 1990."

more at non-paywall version of WSJ article:

www.msn.com

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2026-02-18 10:53 AM

"Billionaires' Low Taxes Becoming a Problem for Economy"

There are fewer than 1,000 billionaires in the United States. Once again society persecutes helpless minorities.

#2 | Posted by censored at 2026-02-18 11:11 AM

No, we have a spending problem, always have. And a big part of it are NGOs when the funding gets approved but doesn't get to the actual need. Democrats steal it.

#3 | Posted by fishpaw at 2026-02-18 12:50 PM

we have a spending problem
#3 | Posted by fishpaw

DOGE was supposed to fix that.
You're too dumb to know that.

#4 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-18 12:51 PM

She's such an idiot.

#5 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2026-02-18 01:08 PM

The only way to fix this is to give billionaires another tax cut.

FishPawn is eager to give his betters whatever they want.

#6 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-18 01:30 PM

we have a spending problem
#3 | POSTED BY FISHPAWN

Donald Trump is personally responsible for $15 trillion of our nation's $ 25 trillion debt.

Which you're totally fine with.

Do us all a favor and shut the ---- up.

#7 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-18 01:34 PM

"we have a spending problem"

Borrowing an extra $5 Trillion to give away via tax cuts to the world's wealthiest is SPENDING, Einstein.

#8 | Posted by Danforth at 2026-02-18 01:42 PM

No, we have a spending problem, always have. And a big part of it are NGOs when the funding gets approved but doesn't get to the actual need. Democrats steal it.

#3 | Posted by fishpaw

This stupid f*&^ will mime this BS line until his dying days.

Guess what, s*&^bag, we do have a spending problem, but we also have an income problem. There are always input and output parts of the equation no matter how hard you cling to your talking points.

#9 | Posted by jpw at 2026-02-18 02:21 PM

Long Term Capital Gains taxed at a lower tax rate than actually Working For A Living.

The whole system is rigged in favor of the rich.

Republicans know this, and yet they still support it, and tell you it must be this way, even though it wasn't this way during the "Golden Age" when all the Baby Boomers were born.

#10 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-18 03:34 PM

FAFO

#11 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2026-02-18 03:42 PM

Congress writes the tax laws,passes them, and every President has signed them into law.

All the spending. All the tax breaks.

When has a President ever veto the bills and demand,on behalf of the public, that Congress fix it all?

Both parties have had the power.

#12 | Posted by Petrous at 2026-02-18 08:18 PM

Becoming?

#13 | Posted by morris at 2026-02-19 12:31 AM

Never expect patriotism from a billionaire. They'll just relocate.

#14 | Posted by RightisTrite at 2026-02-19 10:20 AM

It's been true for 45 years, at least.

Nothing gets fixed without Campaign Finance Reform.

#15 | Posted by morris at 2026-02-19 02:04 PM

"Never expect patriotism from a billionaire. They'll just relocate."

Who is that a problem for?

If the location they were relocating to thought it were an issue, wouldn't they just stop it?

Face it, progressives are the demographic most reliant on billionaires. They're the spoiled kids who want the benefits, but don't want to acknowledge where the benefits come from.

#16 | Posted by madbomber at 2026-02-19 03:42 PM

Who is that a problem for?

The people they exploited.

But you don't care.

You're a bootlicker for the wealthy and a champion of inequality.

A dog they send in to steal resources defend their conquests.

#17 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-19 03:54 PM

progressives are the demographic most reliant on billionaires.

No one's reliant on billionaires. They don't actually do anything. Other than exploit the labor of others.

Remove every billionaire from the face of the planet and everything would be fine.

Remove the labor billionaires depend on and everything stops.

#18 | Posted by ClownShack at 2026-02-19 03:56 PM

Face it, progressives are the demographic most reliant on billionaires. They're the spoiled kids who want the benefits, but don't want to acknowledge where the benefits come from.
#16 | Posted by madbomber

Can you name some of the benefits you are getting from the billionaires?
I don't think you can.

#19 | Posted by snoofy at 2026-02-19 05:49 PM

Despite the -------- her is reality:

GOOGLE AI Overview

In 2022, the top 1% of earners in the U.S. paid approximately 40.4% of all federal individual income taxes. This group, with incomes exceeding $663,164, earned 22.4% of total adjusted gross income (AGI). Overall, the top 10% of taxpayers pay over 70% of federal income tax revenue

#20 | Posted by MSgt at 2026-02-20 08:55 AM

the top 1% of earners in the U.S. paid approximately 40.4% of all federal individual income taxes.

#20 | Posted by MSgt

They could be taxed more, and it would be fair.

Ain't nobody with an annual income of $663,164 or more going to suffer.

Especially your precious billionaires who, as a general class (including Trump), think you are a dope and a loser.

#21 | Posted by Zed at 2026-02-20 09:34 AM

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