Democratic Socialist and Congresswoman from the state of New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, stated this week that most NFL players wouldn’t be impacted by her recently proposed tax hike, however, team owners would be.
Fox Business reports, “In response to a joke made by GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas about imposing a top rate of 70 percent on the Patriots to even out competition, the New York Democrat said the average player would not earn enough to be affected.”
The average NFL salary is $2.1 million, so most players would never experience a 70% rate.
The owners who refuse to hire Kaepernick would, though. https://t.co/AnST2lCiU9
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 4, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez stated during a “60 Minutes” interview last month that it would be beneficial to impose a 70 percent tax rate for anyone who earns an income of $10 million or more. She made the suggestion in order to foot the bill of a “Green New Deal” that would “be a massive investment in clean energy infrastructure, aiming to eliminate carbon emissions in a little more than a decade,” according to Fox Business.
The owner of the Patriots (this year’s Super Bowl champions) and the owner of the Los Angeles Rams are both billionaires.
Fox Business reports:
Patriots owner Robert Kraft has an estimated net worth of $6.6 billion, according to Forbes. He purchased the team in 1994 for $172 million – it is now worth an estimated $3.8 billion.
Kraft also owns Gillette Stadium – the Patriots home field – as well as a number of other sports ventures. He has donated $600 million to charity.
Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke is married to Walmart heiress Ann Walton. He has a net worth estimated at $8.5 billion.
The prominent real estate developer became sole owner of the Rams in 2010 – the team is now valued around $3.2 billion.
Kroenke is also the owner of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the Premier League soccer club Arsenal, in addition to numerous stadiums and media properties around the country.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did note that the average NFL player’s salary is $2.1 million, however, some players earned much more in 2018.
“The top-paid player, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, for example, made nearly $40.9 million in total cash in 2018,” Fox Business explains.
Of course, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t the only politician looking to tax the rich. Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders recently revealed his idea for an expansion of the estate tax, which he hoped to push to a 77 percent rate for anyone “passing on assets worth more than $1 billion.”
Then there’s Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren (aka: Pocahontas) who has pushed for an “ultra-millionaire tax” of 2 percent for anyone with more than $50 million in assets. Anyone with assets valued at more than $1 billion would see a rate hike of 3 percent.
“Tax hike proposals are gaining steam in the runup to the 2020 election. A recent Fox News Poll showed a majority – 51 percent – of respondents said they favored spending more on domestic programs over cutting taxes and reducing spending. Their preferred method of financing those projects is through taxing the wealthy. About 70 percent of voters favored raising taxes on those making more than $10 million each year,” Fox Business explains.