The DSA’s dangerous fine print. They're coming for millionaires (and you)

"Tax the billionaires." You think this is what you hear from Democratic Social Candidates, but it might be time you start reading their websites and examining their policies.

While these are easy campaign slogans, there is a far more dangerous tax villain lurking in the alleyways. It’s called taxing middle America and the legacy they want to leave their kids when they don’t even know it.

Some of the tax proposals being advanced by democratic socialists don't stop with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. They start with the average family living on Main Street America.

LET SOCIALISTS ROB FROM THE RICH 100% AND YOU STILL WON’T BE ABLE TO PAY THE BILLS

Policies start hitting at $1 million.

Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's tax platform is a fascinating example.

He supports taxing capital gains above $1 million as ordinary income.

He wants to eliminate stepped-up basis. This means your kids pay taxes on that appreciated Nvidia or Apple you own, your real estate that has gone up in value, and even those baseball cards you’ve been storing the attic.

PROGRESSIVES WANT TO TAX BILLIONAIRES FIRST, AND YOU'RE NEXT ON THE LIST

He supports taxing inheritances greater than $1 million as ordinary income. Did you realize that life insurance you own is INCLUDED in your estate? So even if you aren’t considered wealthy, those life insurance proceeds may be income tax free, but they won’t escape estate taxes under Sayed’s policies unless you put more thought into your plan.

He wants higher marginal income-tax rates above $1 million.

EL-SAYED ADMITS FREE HEALTHCARE MEANS PAYING 'A LITTLE BIT MORE IN TAXES' REGARDLESS OF INCOME

He supports a progressive tax on wealth held in trusts.

Then there's a separate wealth tax on billionaires. Duh? Wait until you see what happens on the ballot in California when my prediction is that the billionaires tax passes.

And he wants to eliminate the Social Security payroll-tax cap.

That's quite a list.

THE MILLION-DOLLAR TRAP

Here's what Americans need to understand. Income and wealth aren't the same thing.

Someone who earns $1 million every year is doing extremely well.

THE CURE FOR SOCIALISM IS GIVING MORE AMERICANS A STAKE IN CAPITALISM

But, someone who realizes a $1 million capital gain after building a business for 30 years is an entirely different financial situation. You are talking about the owner that’s spent a lifetime running the local convenience store, the bridal shop in your town, and even the people who own a franchise in every strip mall in America.

Imagine your local plumber, electrician, or HVAC owner.

They start with one truck.

Thirty years later they have 10 trucks, 20 employees and finally sell the company.

That business may represent most or all of their retirement savings.

Under El-Sayed's proposal, capital gains above $1 million would be taxed at ordinary-income rates rather than today's preferential long-term capital-gains rates.

That's not taxing some imaginary billionaire sitting on a yacht.

That's taxing the American Dream when somebody finally cashes it in.

THEN TAX THE INHERITANCE

Now suppose our plumber dies and leaves assets to his children.

El-Sayed proposes eliminating stepped-up basis and taxing inheritances above $1 million as ordinary income.

For perspective, the federal estate-tax exclusion in 2026 is $15 million per individual.

That's an enormous difference in where tax policy begins touching accumulated family wealth.

And $1 million isn't what it used to be.

A house, retirement accounts and a small business can push a family across that line without anyone remotely resembling a billionaire. This doesn’t even include the life insurance I mentioned.

THEN HIT THE PAYCHECK

Social Security currently taxes employee wages at 6.2%, matched by another 6.2% from employers, up to $184,500 in 2026.

El-Sayed wants to eliminate that ceiling. Take somebody earning $1 million.

At today's rates, removing the cap entirely would produce roughly another $50,000 of employee Social Security tax and another $50,000 from the employer, before considering how future benefits would be treated.

Call that whatever you want.

It's a major tax increase on labor and a backhanded tax on corporate America.

TAX THE TRUST TOO

Then there's wealth held in trusts.

Trusts aren't exclusively toys for billionaires.

Families use trusts for estate planning, business succession, children, grandchildren and asset management.

El-Sayed specifically proposes a progressive tax on wealth held by trusts.

Think about the philosophy underneath all these proposals.

Earn substantial money? Tax more of it.

Sell the asset you built? Potentially tax more of the gain.

Pass wealth to your children? Tax the inheritance and eliminate stepped-up basis.

Put assets in a trust? Tax the wealth there.

Earn above the Social Security ceiling? Remove the ceiling.

Become a billionaire? Add another wealth tax.

WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH?

Supporters argue these policies would make wealthy Americans contribute more while El-Sayed's proposed federal tax exemption on the first $50,000 of income would help working households. We know half the country doesn’t pay federal tax anyway.

That's an important part of his proposal.

But Americans should also understand the other side of the equation.

Taxes change incentives.

They affect investing. Why should I take risk with no reward?

They affect business sales. Why sell my business when I will lose half of what I get?

They affect succession planning. Why work a lifetime to set your family up when the Government takes it away?

They ultimately affect how much entrepreneurs ultimately keep after taking enormous risks.

And they affect whether accumulated family wealth survives from one generation to the next.

The Democratic Socialists of America's national program explicitly calls for "aggressive wealth taxes" on wealthy individuals and corporations.

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El-Sayed's proposals are just one example that show what that philosophy can look like when somebody starts putting actual policies on paper. Problem is most people will hear the headlines and won ’ t read the fine print.

And that's why the most important number in his tax plan is NOT $1 billion. IT IS $1 million.

Because once the conversation moves from taxing billionaires to taxing million-dollar gains, million-dollar inheritances, high incomes, we're no longer talking exclusively about America's 800 or so billionaires.

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We're talking about the fundamental question of crushing the American Dream of capitalism where we’ve always been encouraged to build, keep and pass to the next generation.