Staff Reports
Senator Bernie Sanders recently used a stop on his Fighting Oligarchy tour in El Paso to repeat a familiar line: “Greed is not good.” He urged a federal wealth tax on billionaires and framed the idea as both moral and political. It was a clear, fresh push tied to legislation he has backed, and it deserves a straight answer from conservatives — not yawns.
Sanders’ El Paso Pitch: Greed Is Not Good
At the Abraham Chavez Theatre in El Paso, Senator Bernie Sanders told a crowd that billionaires “need more and more and more” and that the country must “take that on full steam ahead.” The line was blunt and meant to land. It was delivered as part of his Fighting Oligarchy tour, a showpiece effort to keep wealth inequality at the front of voters’ minds.
The rhetoric is familiar. Sanders tied moral language — love, compassion, empathy — to policy aims. He used the moment to press for a tax on the ultra-wealthy and to rally supporters behind the idea that concentrating enormous private fortunes is simply wrong.
Policy Push: The Wealth Tax He’s Selling
Sanders and allies are pushing a bill called the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act, known in Congress as S.3956 with a House companion H.R.7767. The proposal would impose an annual tax on net wealth above very high thresholds and use the funds for programs aimed at working families. That is the policy Sanders is promoting on this tour.
Supporters say the plan would raise revenue and rebalance power. Critics point out big practical hurdles: valuing private assets, running into legal fights, and finding a way to enforce such a tax without massive new bureaucracy. Those are real problems conservatives should keep pressing, because good intentions don’t erase implementation headaches.
Hypocrisy Charge: Charter Flights and Campaign Travel
The strongest attack from the right won’t be about morality. It will be about consistency. Reporting and campaign filings show Sanders’ tour has relied on charter flights and costly travel arrangements. Opponents rightly ask: if you’re railing against billionaire lifestyles, how do you justify private jet travel for a political tour?
The campaign replies logistics made it necessary. Maybe. But voters notice when rhetoric and practice don’t match. That mismatch gives conservatives a clear and simple line: you can preach about billionaires while acting like one, or you can live the thrift you preach. Which is it?
Moral Case vs. Economic Reality
Sanders frames the argument as a simple moral one. But the real debate is about means and ends. Private wealth is the product of investment, risk, and service to customers. Yes, some fortunes are ill-gotten or tied to favors. But painting every successful entrepreneur as a villain is lazy thinking.
Forbes’ recent tallies show the U.S. has a record number of billionaires holding vast sums of wealth. That concentration raises real policy questions. Conservatives should not defend excess or corruption; they should defend free enterprise as the best engine for rising living standards, while pushing for transparency and enforcement against abuse.
What This Means Going Forward
Senator Sanders’ El Paso remarks are a deliberate prod to move the wealth-tax conversation forward. Conservatives need to respond with clear answers: call out the hypocrisy, point to the legal and economic problems with a wealth tax, and offer pro-growth alternatives that actually help working families. If we don’t make the moral case for capitalism now, the left will keep filling the moral vacuum with slogans and soundbites.
