Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke announced a new plan on Monday to support veterans and their families with a new “war tax.”
O’Rourke announced that the war tax would apply to future wars as a means of supporting new initiatives that address veterans’ needs. The tax would be imposed only on households without a member actively serving in the Armed Forces, according to the release.
The amount each household would pay would be based on income. Families making over $200,000 a year would pay $1,000 for each war waged, whereas, households making $30,000 would pay $25, CNN reported.
In addition to the tax, O’Rourke will introduce a Veteran’s Health Care Trust fund that Congress will invest in. The fund would support hospital and medical services, according to the release. Funds from the war tax would also be deposited into the trust fund.
“This country must be willing to pay any price and bear any burden to provide the full care, support, and resources to every single veteran who served every single one of us,” O’Rourke tweeted on Monday.
Originally for El Paso, TX, O’Rourke became a member of the House of Representatives in 2013. He was a member of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee for every year he served in Congress.
The former congressman is a longtime advocate for veterans and has helped pass a number of bills related to veteran affairs.
According to a statement released on O’Rourke’s site, the war tax will only be one component of a four-part framework which will include: a major push to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; build a new veteran health care system; provide veterans with equal treatment; and make sure that veterans can prosper once they come home.
“Eighteen years into the war in Afghanistan, and nearly three decades after our first engagement in Iraq, the best way to honor our veterans’ service is to cancel the blank check for endless war—and reinvest the savings to ensure every American can thrive upon their return home,” O’Rourke said in the statement.
