Robert Reich demands 'Wealth tax now' after 'dynastic' billionaire’s $50m Trump donation

21 June 2024

In Pennsylvania, the name "Mellon" has been synonymous with wealth since the 19th Century.

Thomas Mellon founded Mellon Bank in 1870, and his son Andrew W. Mellon served as secretary of the U.S. Treasury under three GOP presidents: Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover. Mellon Bank continued to be one of Pennsylvania's top banks until 2007, when it merged with Bank of New York.

In 2024, 81-year-old billionaire Timothy Mellon — Thomas Mellon's great grandson, Andrew W. Mellon's grandson and Paul Mellon's son — remains a major donor to Republican causes. And liberal economist Robert Reich, in a June 21 post on X, formerly Twitter, argues that Timothy Mellon's $50 million donation to a pro-Donald Trump PAC makes a strong argument for a "wealth tax."

Reich tweets, "One of the richest men in the 1920s was Andrew Mellon — an early prophet of trickle-down economics. Yesterday we learned that his grandson, Timothy Mellon, gave a Trump super PAC one of the largest political donations ever. This is how dynastic wealth works. Wealth tax now."

In a separate June 21 tweet, Reich — who served as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton — elaborates, "$50 million. Citizens United is among the worst decisions in history. It corrupts our system every day."

To illustrate his point, Reich linked to the New York Times' June 20 reporting on Timothy Mellon's $50 million donation.

According to Times reporters Shane Goldmacher and Theodore Schleifer, "Mr. Mellon is now the first donor to give $100 million in disclosed federal contributions in this year's election. He was already the single largest contributor to super PACs supporting both Mr. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an independent. Mr. Mellon has previously given $25 million to both."

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