How 938 billionaires could fund $3,000 payments for millions of Americans

[Uncle Joe]

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The math says yes, and a congressional bill proposed this week aims to do exactly that. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, have introduced the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, which targets the nation’s 938 billionaires.

Those billionaires are collectively worth $8.2 trillion, the lawmakers said in a news release, and a 5% wealth tax on just that group could generate enough revenue for direct $3,000 payments to each person in households that make less than $150,000 annually. That would be $9,000 for a family of three or $15,000 for a family of five.

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Sen. Ron Wyden supports having billionaires “pay a fair share,” his office said Wednesday, and last September the Oregon Democrat introduced the Billionaires Income Tax Act. That bill, which is co-sponsored by Sanders and remains in committee in both the House and the Senate, would generate about $500 billion by expanding on an accounting method that already exists in the U.S. tax code.

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Sanders and Khanna said that in addition to providing the direct payments, their bill also would reverse $1.1 trillion in healthcare cuts from last summer’s Big Beautiful Bill and expand Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing.

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https://www.oregonlive.com/nation/2026/03/how-938-billionaires-could-fund-3000-payments-for-millions-of-americans.html