Perfect photo for Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna’s “tax the rich” effort

by philg

The perfect photo for stoking envy among the peasants:

(It’s an Aston Martin V12 Vantage (10 mpg?) in front of a Pilatus PC-24 (not as spacious as a typical billionaire’s Gulfstream, but useful for getting into smaller airports) in front of an FBO called “Million Air”. Austin, Texas.)

Separately, it would be a lot simpler to tax billionaires if the federal government eliminated or capped charitable deductions and imposed a foreign remittance tax on nonprofit orgs. Currently Bill Gates’s and Warren Buffett’s fortunes, for example, can be entirely sheltered from income tax via the money going into the Gates Foundation. Then the Gates Foundation can export the money away from the U.S. economy for $20 (wire transfer fee) by sending it all to Africa. With a cap on charitable deductions, Bill Gates and his subordinate-turned-wife-turned-plaintiff would have had to pay 20 percent federal capital gains tax plus 3.8 percent Obamacare tax. Let’s assume an additional 25 percent tax on sending money to Africa. and the U.S. Treasury could have become fat and happy as a result of Bill Gates’s success with Microsoft. Billionaires, despite trying, haven’t figured out how become immortal. Thus, they’d all pay 40 percent at death via estate tax on any money that wasn’t given to a nonprofit. Eliminating charitable deductions or capping the deductibility at $1 million per lifetime could be called the Elvis Presley Spirit of Charity Act of 2026. That’s because Elvis didn’t write off his charitable contributions, saying “that would take away from the spirit of the gift.” The Bernie and Khanna “steal 5 percent every year” plan seems doomed to fail because if you accept their reasoning (billionaires are too rich and didn’t truly earn their wealth) then the rate should be much higher than 5 percent. By contrast, there is no obvious reason for unlimited charitable deductions, especially given how lavishly nonprofit orgs spend.

What does Million Air look like inside, you might ask?

(It would look better if a slob hadn’t left his jacket on the chair at right…. said slob being yours truly (it was down near freezing in the morning).)

10 thoughts on “Perfect photo for Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna’s “tax the rich” effort”

  2. Not really envious of luxury vinyl planking. Why is N99X in primer grey? Was it either the Aston or the top coat paint? Probably a fractional renta-jet anyway. The PC-24 looks like it took design cues from the CJ, like pass-under wing spar for more space in the cabin. Maybe a little more leading edge wing sweep. The nose looks more like a Gulfstream. The PC-24 was quite an upgrade from the PC-12. BTW, Alligator Alcatraz Gothams?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/02/contractor-gaza-profits-white-house-gothams

    Reply

    • I doubt that the PC-24 in the background is fractional. As you note, it has a company name on the side. I’m sure that Austin-based Gothams is very grateful for the business opportunity created by the Biden-Harris open border! Nothing is more expensive than cheap labor, at least for the taxpayer…

    • > it has a company name on the side

      I see your point, would the ladies really fall for a guy who asked them to get into a (little bitty) biz jet with “NetJets” painted on the side? “I thought you said you *owned* this OAG! We’re through, bozo, I know a guy who owns a whole Aston Martin V12 Vantage.”

    • I thought that if I ever became rich I would buy a PC-6 ‘SUP (sport utility plane) to do some adventuring. I got married instead of rich, so just a dream. Anyone else watch RFDS, a show about the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia on PBS? They operate Pilatus PC-12s and PC-24s, as well as Beech King Airs and a couple of Eurocopters. The show is kind of a soap opera, but the aviation part is interesting.

      https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/about-the-rfds/our-fleet/

    • Phil will be especially smitten with the reality presented in the Australia of RFDS that doctors and pilots are mostly women and men are nurses and attendants. I’d post more today, but I need to make a parts run for a female A&P mechanic.

  3. The closest I’ve gotten to cool guy planes was on Caye Caulker, Belize. There at the end of the airstrip was a weird looking Soviet-era biplane with a placard next to it. A couple of guys were piloting (and mechanic-ing) this An-2 around the Caribbean. Cool guys.

    Reply
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