Thanks for your detailed reply! My goal here isn’t necessarily to endorse a particular new tax but to lay out some of the options. My thesis is that politicians will eventually introduce UBI, and they'll pick different sources of payment (if they actually care) depending on their ideology. But I want to review some of the points you make.

I’m not convinced that the FTT would generate “nothing”. It does not eliminate all short-term capital gains but acts as a ≤0.5% tax on trades. Even with a growing number of retail investors, the majority of the people bearing the cost will be the wealthy. Per Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, the top 1% of American households would pay 40% of the total amount of the tax, while the bottom 60% would pay just over 11%. The cost to the average American’s retirement savings would only be between $12 and $35 per year. It seems worth it to raise This report from the non-partisan Institute of Taxation & Economic Policy discusses more: https://itep.org/benefits-of-a-financial-transaction-tax/

I’m not sure what you mean when you say eliminating the Social Security cap could lead to its demise. Isn’t it just requiring more high-income Americans to pay into the system? To me, it doesn’t make a lot of sense that LeBron James would pay the same SS tax on his $40M salary as a doctor making $150k. If you have a report suggesting that it will be harmful, I’d like to read it.

I don’t think you touched on military spending, but that’s another ~$200 Billion/yr with a 25% cut. I’ve written separately about why I believe this is necessary, even though Washington insiders don’t currently have the will to do so. It's an uphill battle, but public opinion is certainly behind it.

I didn’t even mention raising marginal tax rates. If you’re not convinced that other proposals can make up the sum, are you open to raising such rates on the highest income? I’m genuinely curious and appreciate the engagement.