Unearned-income tax
From dKosopedia
This is a MemeTank meme. |
Contents |
Status
I'm hoping to get this Meme started.
Origin
Call to Action
Tell me if you think this phrase is useful, and whether could be improved upon.
Analysis
The phrase capital gains tax means nothing to most Americans: many might not even know what the word capital means. The effect of the phrase is to cause people to assume that whatever it is, only an economist could possibly understand it. It causes people to tune out, and this allows the Republicans to get away with murder.
I am proposing that we rename the capital gains tax to the unearned income tax. This captures much more accurately what the tax is: a tax on money you receive without doing any labor. It's a phrase that anyone can understand, and it also captures the moral issues inherent in the tax. I'm hoping to get reporters to use this phrase instead of "capital gains tax," in much the same way that Republicans managed to replace "estate tax" with "death tax."