Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke‘s tax would only be levied on households without military members or veterans. | Meg Kinnard/AP Photo 2020 Elections How Beto O'Rourke would use a 'war tax' to help veterans

Beto O’Rourke on Monday called for Congress to enact a “war tax” any time the country goes to war, with the proceeds going to care for veterans of the conflict.

The proposal came as part of a new plan by O’Rourke, a Democratic candidate for president, to expand services for military veterans. The former Texas congressman also repeated his call for the country to end what he called its “endless war” in Afghanistan and Iraq.


What would the plan do?

If elected, O’Rourke said he would push Congress to enact a law creating a new trust fund for veterans’ health care for every war the U.S. fights. Each fund would be paired with a war tax, which O’Rourke’s campaign said would be “implemented on a progressive basis.”

In addition, O’Rourke outlined a series of steps he said he would take to modernize and improve services at the VA, while pledging to pardon veterans discharged and denied benefits for conduct stemming from post-traumatic stress or other service-related injuries.

He said he would also implement policies restoring military service as a pathway to citizenship and would allow veterans who have been deported to return to the United States with the benefits of citizenship. O’Rourke has previously pledged to reverse President Donald Trump’s restrictions on transgender people serving in the military, as well as the Trump administration’s “deploy or get out” policy affecting service members deemed non-deployable.

Why is O’Rourke making this proposal?

O’Rourke, whose former West Texas congressional district includes Fort Bliss, served on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee and made veterans care a centerpiece of his agenda while in Congress.

“We 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 said in a prepared statement. “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.”

How much would it cost?

O’Rourke said ending the country’s “endless war” in Afghanistan and Iraq could save at least $400 billion, half of which he said he would urge Congress to invest in veterans.

The tax O’Rourke proposes for each new war would range from $25 for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes below $30,000 to $1,000 for taxpayers making more than $200,000 a year. The tax would only be levied on households without military members or veterans.

What have other Democrats proposed?

O’Rourke’s war tax proposal is not without precedent. Sen. Bernie Sanders has supported a war tax in the past, as have other Democrats intent on spreading the burden of military conflict. Lawmakers in the 2000s discussed levying a tax to pay for the military surge in Afghanistan, and Congress approved a surcharge on personal and corporate income taxes during the Vietnam War to help fund that effort.

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