The entrepreneur Mark Cuban is known for not mincing his words.
This quality has made him popular with a general public that's tired of political correctness and stonewalling.
You're surely better off not finding yourself in the crosshairs of the owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA franchise.
Now, however, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts, a strong liberal and longtime champion higher taxes on the wealthy, is right there.
This tax proposal has already prompted strong exchanges between the senator and billionaires like Elon Musk, who is both chief executive of electric-vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA) and the richest man in the world.
And when we list Warren's opponents, Cuban's name is also there.
Sharp Words for the Senator
The entrepreneur was one of the guests at the 2022 annual Code Conference from Vox Media on Sept. 6.
Cuban was asked by the journalist and host Kara Swisher about a tax hike on the wealthy, an idea much favored by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
On a number of issues Cuban's positions are in line with the Democrats. But here he could not conceal his anger.
"The idea just soak the rich, billionaire tears that fill that cup. Screw you, Elizabeth Warren, you're everything that's wrong with politics," the billionaire said, according to excerpts from the interview.
Warren has yet to respond, but given the lawmaker's past fights with billionaires, she's more than likely to react to the attack as the midterm elections approach.
For example: "Elon Musk didn't make it on his own. He got huge investments from the government, from taxpayers, from those public school teachers and those minimum wage workers who have been paying their taxes all along," Warren said last March in response to a question about her criticism of Musk.
"All we're saying is that when you make it to the top, pay something in so everybody else gets a share," she said.
In March, President Joe Biden unveiled a new minimum-tax proposal, targeting billionaires with a 20% rate that would affect both income and unrealized capital gains. The "Billionaire Minimum Income Tax" would be levied on all U.S. households valued at more than $100 million. Those households represent about 0.01% of Americans.
The wealthiest 400 families paid an 8.2% average federal income tax from 2010 to 2018, according to the White House. That compares to 13.03% for the average American.
The billionaire-tax proposal has failed to gain support within the Democratic Party.
Cuban Is Not Completely Antitax
This is not the first time that Cuban has attacked Warren over her idea to tax the rich more.
"I don’t think Elizabeth Warren knows at all what she’s talking about when she deals with this," Cuban told Fox Business in October 2021. "I think she just likes to demonize people that are wealthy and that’s fine.
"It’s a great political move for her, but I just don’t think that they really understand the implications of taxing unrealized gains," he continued. "People are going to have to sell things they otherwise would not sell. People are not going to make the same investments."
Cuban is not completely antitax. In mid-August the billionaire had supported a 1% tax on share buybacks as a way to partly finance Biden's climate and health-care bill.
"I think a tax on buybacks is a good idea, actually," Cuban said in a phone interview with CNBC on Aug. 11. "I don't have a problem with that at all. In fact, I think it's a good idea."
During the interview on Sept.6, the 'Shark Tank' star has generally attacked politicians and in particular the two parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. He said the political system is broken.
"Fuck 'em both," Cuban said. He declined to say whether he would run for the White House in 2024. Many users of social networks have asked him to run.
