Today, just steps from the U.S. Capitol, National Millionaires, along with Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD), Senator Edward Markey (MA), Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Representative Don Beyer (VA-08), Representative Chris DiLuzio (PA-17), and countless other organizations, are calling on Congress to tax the rich in order to defeat the oligarchs and billionaire class and promote a new kind of economy that works for everyone.
The “Tax the Rich and Make Life Affordable” rally highlighted efforts to reform the tax code for working people and overturn our economic system that currently rewards wealth over work. During the press conference, speakers pointed to past failures over the past 60 years to halt the growth of inequality and the billionaire class and the current administration’s priorities and policies that have already accelerated it. Several organizations have indicated their support for current bills before Congress that would increase taxes on high-income earners and provide much-needed economic relief to low- and moderate-income people.
“While I have seen examples of the good that wealth can do, I have also seen all the ways in which wealth can do irreparable harm to our personal, political, moral, and societal well-being. There is a level of wealth that threatens the health and even existence of our democracy and our economy. We cannot hand the keys to our democracy to people who are unwilling to address the economic injustices that exist today.” said National Millionaire Scott Ellis, who spoke on behalf of the organization. “I join Senator Van Hollen, Representatives Jayapal, Baier, DiLuzio, and others to urge our government leaders to address our country’s money problem head-on with solutions like those in the National Millionaires’ Money Agenda. Every time inequality reaches extraordinary levels, we create a vulnerability to tyranny where money becomes power. If we are to dismantle our economy, we need a bold and surprisingly simple economic vision. Millionaires like me who want a rich, stable, free country demand With an economy that ensures this, this begins with rational revenue collection and tax reforms that stop the accumulation of wealth concentrated by the few.
Today’s rise also comes on the heels of increased state momentum to pass legislation to tax the rich in light of federal inaction on the issue. States like Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington state have passed their own laws to raise taxes on high earners and the wealthy in recent years, with states like California, Virginia and others now considering similar measures. Speakers pointed to these efforts as evidence that federal lawmakers should proactively address economic inequality.
“Our federal tax code is skewed in favor of the wealthy, especially those who make their money hard — while it disfavors working Americans living paycheck to paycheck. The Tax Cut for Working Americans creates a fairer system that ensures that those who do the best they can to make ends meet can keep more of what they earn, while asking the wealthy to invest more. It is long past time we rebalance our tax code to put working people first — and promote more opportunity and shared prosperity for all.” said Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD).
“Our government has a problem of fiscal recklessness, and it looks like this: The richest people in the history of the Earth face lower tax rates than Americans on their paychecks.” Congressman Chris DiLuzio (PA-17) said. “Yet this is the Republican plan: increase the national debt, cut health care, and more for the American people to pay for these massive tax giveaways to corporations and the super-rich. We need a vastly different approach, like passing a super-millionaires tax, to restore some sanity to our tax system.”
Over the past few months, the National Millionaires Party has seen two elements in its legislative platform, Money agendasubmitted in both Houses of Congress. The first component, the Equal Taxation Act, was introduced in Senate By Senator Edward Markey in March and house By Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) in September. This would ensure that millionaires and billionaires, who earn most of their money passively through investments, would pay the same tax rates as workers and close other common loopholes that the wealthy use to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. In March, the second component, known as the “Cost of Living Tax Cut” Act, was introduced as the Tax Cut for Americans Working in the United States Act. Senate By Senator Chris Van Hollen and V house By Actor Don Baer (VA-08). The legislation would provide a significant tax cut for working people, paid for by an additional tax on millionaires.
“We welcome the introduction of the Tax Equality Act. Taxing investment income less than income from work is one glaring example of how the super-rich take advantage of our broken tax system and exploit it to their advantage.” David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Justice, said: “It is reasonable that Wall Street elites and the ultra-rich should not be forced to pay federal tax rates lower than those paid by nurses, teachers, and most working Americans. These changes are long overdue and represent a vital step toward a fairer tax system that ensures these ultra-rich individuals pay their fair share like everyone else.”
“As an organization that fights for women and girls, we know we cannot achieve gender justice without tax justice.” said Emily Martin, program director at the National Women’s Law Center. “With their tax agenda, Republicans in Congress and the Trump administration have made clear that their priorities lie not with women and families, but with the billionaire class. Women and their families deserve a government that ensures the wealthy pay their fair share, invests in health care, child care, and education, and builds an economy that works for everyone — not just billionaires and big corporations.”
“The affordability crisis is not an accident. It is the result of policy choices that protect concentrated wealth at the expense of the well-being of working families.” said EJ Juarez, CEO of the Government Innovation Exchange (SiX). “We know that when vast wealth goes unchecked, costs are passed on to working families: in rent, health care premiums, child care bills, groceries, and electricity. In 2025 alone, billionaire wealth grew 22% — from $6.7 trillion to $8.2 trillion — while working families see the cost of living rising, and wages falling too low. That’s why SiX is working alongside state lawmakers across the country to lead the way. Throughout In the United States, lawmakers are offering bold solutions to make the wealthy pay, closing corporate loopholes, and building tax systems that actually reduce costs and empower working families. Together, states are proving that a better future is possible.
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