Liberal group launches seven-figure ad campaign to push for tax hike on the rich

The progressive group Tax March on Wednesday announced the launch of a seven-figure campaign to push for increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations, as a number of prominent Democratic lawmakers have been offering proposals aimed at making the rich pay more in taxes.

The group said it will spend more than $1 million on advertising to educate the public about taxing the rich more, and will also engage in efforts such as rallies, district office visits and town halls.

{mosads}Tax March plans to focus its efforts in states that are important in the 2020 Democratic primary and the general election, such as Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and Colorado.

“The goal of the ‘Tax the Rich’ movement is to raise the visibility of this issue until it becomes impossible to consider yourself to be a progressive leader if you do not support taxing the rich,” Tax March Executive Director Maura Quint said in a news release.

The launch of the campaign comes as a host of Democratic politicians have floated ways to make the wealthy pay more in taxes. 

Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has suggested taxing income above $10 million at a rate of 70 percent. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is running for president, has proposed a wealth tax. And several of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have called for expanding the estate tax.

The latest idea to raise taxes on the wealthy came Tuesday from Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who said he plans to release a white paper on taxing the investment gains of wealthy individuals annually as opposed to when the investments are sold. The investment gains would also be taxed at the same rates as other types of income.

As part of the launch of its campaign, Tax March released polling data that found that about 75 percent of likely 2020 voters support raising taxes on the rich, including 60 percent of Republicans. The poll, which surveyed 1,000 likely voters online from March 15 to March 20, was conducted by ALG Research for Tax March and Americans for Tax Fairness.

“This important poll provides a detailed look at how voters feel about taxes and the overwhelming message is that they want the wealthy and corporations to pay their fair share,” Americans for Tax Fairness Executive Director Frank Clemente said.

Americans for Tax Fairness is one of the groups supporting Tax March’s campaign, along with the American Federation of Teachers, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Iowa Citizen Action Network and others.