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David Friedberg: It’s totally reasonable to say billionaires aren’t paying their fair share — but the uncomfortable truth is why. Ultra-wealthy individuals don’t live on income, they live by borrowing against assets. No sale, no capital gains, no tax. That’s the loophole nobody wants to say out loud. The issue isn’t income tax — it’s asset-backed borrowing. When someone can live tax-free by borrowing against billions in untaxed assets, the system is broken. If policymakers were serious, the fix is simple: tax borrowed money tied to unrealized gains. California has ~200 billionaires worth $2 TRILLION combined. A 5% one-time tax raises $100B — sounds big until you realize the state is staring at a $1.5 TRILLION liability hole. Taxing billionaires doesn’t solve the problem. Spending does. Even if you confiscated billions from every billionaire, it wouldn’t fix government debt. This debate pretends revenue is the issue — it’s not. The real crisis is uncontrolled spending and liabilities already baked into the system.
ianmiles ↗