Pete Buttigieg, a former transportation secretary and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is arguing that America’s tax system is upside down, saying everyday workers are carrying a heavier burden than some of the richest people and biggest companies in the country.
“Right now, we have a tax code that forces firefighters and teachers to pay a higher share of their income than many billionaires and major corporations,” he posted on X.
“We need to change that – because our economy requires it, and because it is simply the right thing to do.”
Why He Says The Tax Code Is Not Working
Speaking on the Lemonade Stand podcast, Buttigieg was asked what kind of tax policy he would pursue, not just for the wealthy but for Americans more broadly.
He did not hesitate on one point: “Taxes on the wealthy need to be higher.”
He argued that the case for higher taxes on top earners is grounded in fairness, fiscal reality, and global comparisons.
“If you look at what’s fair, if you look at what it’s going to take to meet our revenue goals, if you look at international comparisons, in my opinion, that’s clearly the case,” he said.
At the same time, he cautioned against the idea that raising taxes on the rich alone would solve everything.
“I think it would be misleading to suggest that’s all we’ve got to do,” he said. He pointed to what he described as “collection leakage and evasion” and said the government must also focus on “spending and being more efficient.”
His view is that reform has to happen on several fronts at once.
Buttigieg also addressed the concept of a wealth tax, which would tax accumulated assets instead of just income.
“The idea of a wealth tax is not fundamentally different from the idea of a property tax,” he said, noting that property taxes were a key source of funding during his time as a mayor.
He added, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong in principle with assessing some kind of tax.”
However, he stressed that any such policy “has to be reasonable” and “be set up in a way that it’s not going to have unintended consequences.”
He pushed back on the argument that higher taxes on the wealthy would automatically damage economic growth.
“There are times in our past when the highest income tax brackets were much higher than they are now,” he said. “And growth was actually pretty good economically.”
In his view, the claim that taxing the wealthy or corporations will “kill economic growth” is overstated.
While he said he wants businesses to succeed, he also wants them to contribute more.
“I want good businesses to do well, but I want them to pay their fair share along the way,” he said.
The Case For Public Investment
A major part of Buttigieg’s argument centers on the role government plays in building the foundation for private success.
He said corporations benefit from infrastructure, research, and public systems that taxpayers fund.
His favorite example is the internet. “The internet was literally invented by the American taxpayer, the federal government,” he said, referencing early research funded through DARPA.
Private companies later commercialized the technology, but he argued that “private enterprise never could have had the scale to do the basic research that made the internet a thing in the first place.”
He said there is often an “illusion” that certain companies or individuals built everything on their own.
In reality, he argued, every business operates within a broader public framework.
“Part of the context for any business is infrastructure, research, the rule of law,” he said. “If you don’t have that, you can’t build a business from a coffee shop to a major AI company.”
Those systems, he emphasized, require funding.
“None of that happens if you don’t have those things, and those things cost money. And that’s what tax is for,” he said.
He described taxes in simple terms: “It’s like a membership fee. It’s sometimes been described as the taxes of your membership fee to be in a civilized society. And we ought to think of it that way.”
For Buttigieg, this is about more than just bringing in money for the government. He sees it as a basic fairness issue.
In his view, if firefighters and teachers are paying a bigger share of what they earn than billionaires and major corporations, something clearly isn’t working the way it should.
His solution includes higher taxes on the wealthy, tighter enforcement against evasion, and more efficient government spending.
Ultimately, his message echoes the line that framed his original statement: “We need to change that – because our economy requires it, and because it is simply the right thing to do.”