Leftist 'Patriotic Millionaires' Refuse to Voluntarily Pay Higher Taxes

The leftist “Patriotic Millionaires” refused on Tuesday to voluntarily pay higher taxes.

The leftist Patriotic Millionaires were first formed in 2010 to demand an end to the George W. Bush tax cuts. Morris Pearl, a former BlackRock executive, chairs the group, and members include “filmmaker Abigail Disney; technologist Steve Silberstein; lawyer Roberta Kaplan; investor Lawrence Benenson of Benenson Capital Partners; textile entrepreneur Great Neck Richman; philanthropist Molly Munger; corrugated cardboard magnate Dennis Mehiel.”

On Tuesday, the group held a press conference with leftist lawmakers such as Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), and Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA).

Stephen Moore, the co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, asked the so-called patriotic millionaires if they would like to voluntarily pay more taxes to the federal government.

Moore said the leftist millionaires “won’t sign a pledge to pay the taxes that they endorse.”

Abigail Disney, the Walt Disney Company heiress, said, “It’s time to enact a new tax code that requires those that benefitted the most from America’s economic structure to recycle a significant portion of that benefit back into our society rather than allowing them to amass fortunes so large that they threaten our democracy.”

When Moore presented the leftist millionaires with the option to pledge to pay higher taxes, they refused to do so.

“It’s about changing the system,” Pearl said.

Disney said it is “disingenuous” to say that a voluntary tax payment would lead to structural reforms.

Disney told the Financial Times in 2019 that she had a net worth of roughly $120 million.

These so-called patriotic millionaires can donate anytime to the U.S. government.

The Disney heiress also seemingly contradicted herself from one year ago when she told CNBC that she does not believe in wealth redistribution.

“I don’t think we need to do redistribution. But I think we need to think more carefully about pre-distribution, and maybe businesses need to be taking less as owners and seeing the workers as their true partners who deserve to participate in profits just as deeply,” she explained.

“Capitalism is the invisible hand that creates a kind of magical surplus when it’s worked right. And it can still do that, without being this, you know, predatory entity that it has become,” she continued.

“It’s a little bit of hypocrisy when a bunch of millionaires get together to raise taxes but they’re not willing to pay them themselves,” Moore remarked.