The math on “tax the rich” doesn’t add up, according to a Fox News opinion piece drawing on a new analysis from the Cato Institute. The libertarian think tank ran the numbers on nine major proposals from the Democratic Socialists of America’s 2026 platform. The columnist argues the price tag is far beyond what America’s wealthiest could ever cover.
Cato estimates those proposals could cost between $71 trillion and $212 trillion over the next decade. That figure comes with an important caveat: it is not a Congressional Budget Office score of one piece of legislation. Cato assembled estimates from multiple studies to illustrate the potential magnitude of these policies.
The $6.6 trillion confiscation
Cato’s calculations show that taking everything from the 400 richest Americans — the yachts, the stocks, the businesses, the bank accounts — would raise just $6.6 trillion. That’s a fraction of the $71 trillion low-end estimate.
“Take it all. Not 40%. Not 70%. 100%,” the opinion piece says. “Congratulations. You raised $6.6 trillion.”
That covers only about 9% of Cato’s low-end estimate. There’s another problem the analysis flags: you can only confiscate someone’s fortune once. Next year, you need another taxpayer.
Corporate profits fall short
Going after corporations doesn’t close the gap either. Cato estimates domestic corporations could generate approximately $35 trillion of after-federal-tax profits over the next decade.
Take every additional dollar of that — forget shareholders, reinvestment and dividends — and you’d cover only about half of the $71 trillion low-end estimate. The opinion piece adds, “Including your jobs.”
The federal government is already projected to run roughly $24 trillion in deficits over the coming decade under the baseline Cato cites. America already has bills before adding trillions in new promises.
The income tax ceiling
Raising income-tax rates produces surprisingly little. Cato cites Joint Committee on Taxation economists who studied how much extra revenue could come from pushing top federal rates toward their revenue-maximizing level.
The additional revenue: roughly $400 billion over 10 years.
“Taxpayers aren’t mannequins,” the opinion piece argues. Change rates dramatically and people change behavior — they work differently, invest differently and find legal ways to structure their finances.
Running out of rich people
The analysis concludes that the money eventually runs out. First billionaires, then millionaires, then successful business owners, then upper-middle-income families.
Then you.
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher famously said the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money. Forty years later, the politics are still debatable.
The math, the opinion piece argues, is getting harder to debate.
Key facts box
- Cato’s cost estimate for nine DSA proposals: $71 trillion to $212 trillion over 10 years
- Wealth of America’s 400 richest people in 2025: approximately $6.6 trillion
- Share of low-end estimate covered by full confiscation: about 9%
- Projected domestic corporate after-tax profits over next decade: approximately $35 trillion
- Additional revenue from higher income-tax rates: roughly $400 billion over 10 years
- Projected federal deficits over coming decade: roughly $24 trillion
The order of who pays
- Billionaires
- Millionaires
- Successful business owners
- Upper-middle-income families
Source: foxnews.com
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