Democrat billionaire fires back at Elizabeth Warren's 'bull'

FPI / November 17, 2019

In a recent campaign ad, 2020 Democratic presidential contender Elizabeth Warren again pushed her soak the rich approach, naming several billionaires and saying “it is time for a wealth tax.”

One of those billionaires is Omega Advisors CEO Leon Cooperman, who Warren in the ad accused of “insider trading.” On Nov. 13, Warren tweeted: “Some billionaires don’t like my #TwoCentWealthTax? I’m shocked.”

Cooperman, a favorite target of the leftist Democrat, has had enough and is firing back.

“In my opinion,” Cooperman said, Warren “represents the worst in politicians as she’s trying to demonize wealthy people because there are more poor people than wealthy people. As far as the accusations of insider trading, I won the case. She’s disgraceful. She doesn’t know who the f*** she’s tweeting.”

He added: “I gave away more in the year than she has in her whole f***ing lifetime.”

Some financial analysts have pointed out that Warren’s tax amounts to confiscation of assets which are not liquid, which would force liquidation, downsizing, and loss of jobs.

“What she’s peddling is bull,” Cooperman said. “I don’t need Elizabeth Warren, or the government, giving away my money. … She’s screwing around with the wrong guy. I wanted to give it all away. Not 50, 60 percent, I want to give it all away. But I want to control the decision.”

In September, Leon joked to CNBC that, if Elizabeth won the presidency, the stock market wouldn’t open. Later he said it’d open, just “a hell of a lot lower” — he predicted a 25% drop during her first year in office.

Cooperman told Politico last month that he believes “in a progressive income tax and the rich paying more. But this is the f***ing American dream she is s****ing on.”

Warren responded with a tweet: “Leon, you were able to succeed because of the opportunities this country gave you. Now why don’t you pitch in a bit more so everyone else has a chance at the American dream, too?”

Cooperman shot back: “You proceeded to admonish me (as if a parent chiding an ungrateful child) to ‘pitch in a bit more so everyone else has a chance at the American dream.’ Your tweet demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of who I am, what I stand for, and why I think so many of your economic policy initiatives are misguided.”

Cooperman continued: “However much it resonates with your base, your vilification of the rich is misguided, ignoring, among other things, the sources of their wealth and the substantial contributions to society which they already, unprompted by you, make.”

Opponents of Warren’s wealth tax say it’s fundamentally flawed. Of the 12 European countries that had a wealth tax in place in 1990, nine had rescinded the measure by 2019, the Daily Caller noted in a Nov. 14 report.

France’s wealth tax, initiated in 2000, led to an exodus of some 42,000 millionaires from the country in 12 years, according to NPR. French President Emmanuel Macron rescinded the measure in 2018.

Meanwhile, it appears Warren has no problem with billionaires who aren’t American.

Warren is selling a $25 “Billionaire Tears” mug through Shopify, a Canadian e-commerce company founded by billionaire Tobias Lütke.

“Savor a warm, slightly salty beverage of your choice in this union-made mug as you contemplate all the good a wealth tax could do: universal healthcare, student debt cancellation, universal free college, and more,” the mug’s product page states.

Warren’s campaign has disbursed nearly $105,000 to Shopify for credit card processing fees so far in 2019, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.

Free Press International