JPMorgan & Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is joining his fellow billionaires in attacking Democratic primary hopeful Elizabeth Warren over her policies that aim to siphon money from the rich.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions when it comes to policy.”
In an interview that aired on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” Dimon thinks Warren’s approach is extreme.
“She uses some pretty harsh words, you know, some would say (she) vilifies successful people,” he said. “I don’t like vilifying anybody. I think we should applaud successful people.”
The Massachusetts senator is targeting wealth inequality in America with her “Ultra-Millionaire Tax” proposal in order to fund her many social programs and plans. The tax would slap a 2% duty on household wealth above $50 million and a 3% levy on wealth above $1 billion. She’s even threatened to double the tax on billionaires to 6% in order to fund her Medicare for All plan that will cost more than $30 trillion over a decade.
The news has drawn the ire of other billionaires like Omega Advisors CEO Leon Cooperman, who recently wrote an open letter attacking Warren and her soak-the-rich policies. It was the latest in an ongoing public spat between the two that included Cooperman accusing Warren of “s——g on the American dream.”
Cooperman calls on Warren in the letter to “elevate the dialogue and find ways to keep this a land of opportunity where hard work, talent and luck are rewarded and everyone gets a fair shot at realizing the American Dream.”
Cooperman’s letter, according to his friends, was meant to educate voters on the harm Warren’s extreme proposals will do to taxpayers and the economy.
Dimon and Cooperman actually do think some form of a progressive tax on the wealthy could work, but Warren’s aggressive approach isn’t the answer.
“I think we have to look at (how) America was founded on free enterprise. Freedom and free enterprise are interchangeable,” Dimon said. “If people have very specific things that we should do different, than we should think about doing them different.”
But he doesn’t think sweeping policy change will do much to solve the country’s problems.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions when it comes to policy,” Dimon said. “A lot of government programs have been abysmal failures.”
