Vox Writer Ian Millhiser Calls for 99% Income Tax on Unvaccinated, Immediately Bashed as ‘Racist’

Ian Millhiser, a senior correspondent for the left-wing website Vox and senior policy analyst for Center for American Progress, is calling on Congress to punish unvaccinated Americans by increasing the income tax rate for unvaccinated individuals to 99 percent — a move which would disproportionately target black and Hispanic Americans, given their lower vaccination rates.

“Congress should increase the income tax rate on taxpayers who are unvaccinated, and who have no legitimate religious or medical reason to be unvaccinated, to 99 percent,” Millhiser suggested in a Thursday social media post to tens of thousands of his followers.

“This could be done through reconciliation,” he added:

Congress should increase the income tax rate on taxpayers who are unvaccinated, and who have no legitimate religious or medical reason to be unvaccinated, to 99 percent.

This could be done through reconciliation.

— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) July 29, 2021

His extreme proposal, some surmise, is fundamentally racist, as it would not only rob millions of Americans — many of whom have expressed legitimate concerns over the safety of vaccinations — of their income, but it would disproportionally affect black and Hispanic communities, which are getting vaccinated at lower rates.

“Less than half of Black and Hispanic people have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose in nearly all states reporting data, including a number of states where less than a third have received a vaccine,” according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) analysis.

The analysis found “the percent of White people who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose (48%) was roughly 1.3 times higher than the rate for Black people (36%) and 1.2 times higher than the rate for Hispanic people (41%) as of July 19, 2021.”

Per the report:

As of July 19, less than half of Black and Hispanic people have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose in the vast majority of states reporting data. The vaccination rate for Black people is less than 50% in 38 of 42 reporting states, including 14 states where less than a third of Black people have received one or more doses. Similarly, less than half of Hispanic people have received a COVID-19 vaccine dose in 34 of 40 reporting states, including 10 states where less than a third have received at least one dose. At least half of White people have received a COVID-19 vaccine dose in 17 of 42 states. The rate remains below 50% in the remaining 25 states but falls below a third in only one state, Idaho. At least half of Asian people have received one or more doses in more than half of reporting states (32 of 39).

“So you want to disproportionately tax black, brown, and other POCs at a higher rate? Racist,” former Trump White House and campaign official Steven Cheung said in reaction to the radical proposal:

So you want to disproportionately tax black, brown, and other POCs at a higher rate? Racist. https://t.co/hz2zKkHPes

— Steven Cheung (@CaliforniaPanda) July 29, 2021

Millhiser’s far-left proposal comes as politicians, primarily Democrats, become more aggressive in their plea for unvaccinated Americans to get the shot.

“We’ve got to shake people at this point and say ‘c’mon now.’ We tried voluntary. We could not have been more kind and compassionate as a country. Free testing …  incentives, friendly warm embrace — the voluntary phase is over,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said this week.

Similarly, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for more deliberate action.

“And we have to get in those communities, and we have to knock on those doors, and we have to convince people, and put them in a car and drive them and get that vaccine in their arm. That is the mission,” the Democrat mayor said during Monday’s press conference, prior to the Biden administration surrendering to the coronavirus by ushering in mask mandates for vaccinated individuals.

While Biden and the CDC director continue to place the blame on unvaccinated Americans, states have reported thousands of breakthrough cases. Over one quarter of the new coronavirus cases in Los Angeles County, which has had a mask mandate in place, is among vaccinated individuals. And some states, such as Illinois, are not publicizing the breakthrough cases that do not result in hospitalization or death, meaning the case rates among the vaccinated could be even higher.

The Biden administration has also been unable to explain how the updated guidance does not undermine their narrative that a vaccine is the answer to returning to normal life.

A majority of unvaccinated individuals in the U.S. are solid in their decisions not to get the vaccine, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey released this month found. The results suggest their decision is not a matter of hesitancy or accessibility. Rather, these are deliberate, personal decisions that will not be receptive to further attempts of government coercion.