Pundits and political scientists are always searching for that simple theory that’ll explain just what makes our politics tick. Where should they be looking? How about in the eyes of a billionaire at tax time?
Can democracy, one top political scientist asked last week, ‘function effectively in a society marked by vast economic inequality’? The fate of the modest new White House bid to tax our rich may tell the tale.
Investor Warren Buffett has made an insightful case for higher taxes on America’s rich. The reaction to that case, from our wealthy’s most ardent defenders, offers insights, too — on our plutocracy.