The Bill Gates Problem: Reckoning With the Myth of the Good Billionaire
by
Tim Schwab
Published 13 Nov 2023
Libertarian Stephen Moore (a former adviser to President Trump) has proposed that wealthy donors like Bill Gates should have to pay capital gains tax on money they donate; Moore has also proposed that Congress limit charitable deductions to $250,000 per household per year. “The question is whether a tax code that encourages dynastic family foundations is good for America,” Moore wrote in the Wall Street Journal in 2017. “If Congress stopped letting billionaires pour money tax free into the foundation-industrial complex, it would go a long way toward lowering rates and making the tax code fairer for everyone. This would help the economy grow faster, which is the best way to help those in need.” On the political left, the late Sheldon Drobny, who worked for the IRS before founding the media company Air America, wrote in 2006: The Gates Foundation now has about $60 Billion under the control of the wealthiest people in America.