Washington Free Beacon senior writer Liz Harrington said Monday that it appears Democratic candidates are trying to outdo one another in moving further to the left with their policy proposals. Harrington joined "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" host Neil Cavuto for a discussion about how the party's push leftward will play out in the 2020 race.
"Well the party's certainly moving toward the left, and it looks like everyone on the Democratic 2020 list is trying to outdo each other," Harrington said. "First, you had Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying we've got to raise the marginal rate to 70 percent, and then everybody's come out, 'whoa let's tax estates,' like Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Warren's tweeting about Dan Snyder's yacht, kind of making it seem like she wants to confiscate it to pay for her wealth tax."
Harrigton said while the idea of taxing the wealthy at a higher rate might, on the surface, sound appealing to some Americans, it's not a viable solution.
"So they're all trying to outdo each other, and yes, I think the polling question sounds good to a lot of voters. They say 'oh, well sure, they have a lot of money, why shouldn't they pay more taxes?' But when you get into the numbers of how much their policies actually cost, there is just not enough money there to pay for them," Harrington continued.
Last month, Ocasio-Cortez said her environmental plans could be paid for if tax rates at the "tippy tops" were set at 70 percent. Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, has proposed an estate tax with rates of up to 77 percent. Warren (D., Mass.) targeted the owner of the Washington Redskins, Dan Snyder, who recently purchased a "superyacht," tweeting that she is "pretty sure he can pay my new #UltraMillionaireTax to help the millions of yacht-less Americans struggling with student loan debt."
Harrington also talked about Democrats' negative reaction to former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz's consideration of an independent presidential run.
"I was just in Seattle, a very liberal crowd, and he is a very liberal guy. He's totally on board with climate change, with changes to capitalism," Harrington said.
"He says there's problems with capitalism, but his main thing is we've got a lot of debt and how are we supposed to pay for 32-trillion-dollar 'Medicare for all?' And you know what the crowd responded to him? They said expletives ... they want to take the money from him. They think it's enough," Harrington continued.
Many Democrats are unhappy with Schultz's announcement that he is considering an independent run for the presidency. Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, threatened to start a Starbucks boycott.