Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz shot back at Washington Democrat and Progressive Caucus Leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal over her “tax the rich” accusations against Elon Musk, mockingly asking, “Who else do you want to loot?”
Cruz shared the remarks in a Twitter post on Wednesday that included Jayapal’s criticisms.
“Got it. You don’t like @elonmusk,” the senator wrote. “Who else do you want to loot?”
Got it. You don’t like @elonmusk
Who else do you want to loot? https://t.co/5iJ49vH4Ob
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 29, 2021
Jayapal claimed: “Elon Musk made $36 BILLION in one day, but wants to brag about paying an $11 billion tax bill. Oh yeah, he also added more than $270 BILLION in wealth just since the pandemic started.”
She argued it is, “Time for the rich to pay their fair share.”
Notably, Jayapal confuses Musk’s net worth for money in his bank account. Musk did not make “$36 billion in one day”; his net worth increased that amount. And just as quickly as it rose, it could fall. Adding $270 billion in wealth is not the same as depositing $270 billion into one’s bank account, thus, someone cannot be taxed on their net worth.
Earlier in December, Jayapal’s team also sent a fundraising email after Musk was named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”
“We can’t believe Time Magazine just named Elon Musk its ‘Person of the Year,’” the email said, according to The Hill. The message added that Musk is “the richest person in the world and yet he avoids paying his taxes while working families struggle to put food on the table and pay rent.”
Cruz’s remarks refer to Jayapal’s support for expanded taxation and federal government. The Washington congresswoman’s radical progressive views have included a wide range of government programs.
Jayapal wrote on Monday that President Joe Biden “must” cancel at least $50,000 of student debt per person by executive action.
“Extending the student loan payment pause was a great first step, but it’s NOT enough.@POTUS must use his executive power to cancel at least $50K of student debt for more than 42 million Americans,” she wrote.
Extending the student loan payment pause was a great first step, but it’s NOT enough.@POTUS must use his executive power to cancel at least $50K of student debt for more than 42 million Americans.
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) December 28, 2021
Jayapal also recently advocated to end the Senate filibuster, a long-standing tradition that requires at least a 60-vote supermajority to pass most legislation among the nation’s 100 senators.
“End the filibuster and save our democracy,” she wrote on Friday.
The Senate seems to care more about protecting the filibuster than protecting the right to vote.
That’s not an acceptable reality — not now, not ever. End the filibuster and save our democracy.
— Pramila Jayapal (@PramilaJayapal) December 24, 2021
The Daily Wire previously reported regarding the congresswoman’s attacks on West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin over his lack of support for his party’s Build Back Better spending bill:
On Sunday, Jayapal likewise slammed her colleague, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), for pulling his support for President Biden’s $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act.
“Nearly a year ago, President Biden laid out his Build Back Better agenda: a broad vision to meet the individual and collective challenges Americans face, necessarily ambitious to address crises both created and exposed by the pandemic,” Jayapal wrote. “For most of 2021, Democrats worked to pass legislation that realizes that vision. The president negotiated with Congress, including Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) directly. Sen. Manchin committed to the president — who relayed that commitment to House members — that he would support the legislative framework unveiled on Oct. 28.”
“But on Dec. 20, Sen. Manchin went back on his commitment to the president and seemingly killed the bill on national television,” Jayapal said. “In a town where your word is everything, this was a stunning rebuke of his own party’s president.”
“Despite that, we must move forward,” she continued. “The president’s agenda is even more urgent today. The omicron variant is surging as covid-19 has once again disrupted people’s ability to work, care for children and elders, access medical care and make ends meet. We simply cannot abandon our vision.”