在加州，进步派人士起草了一项提案，提议对资产超过10亿美元的富人征收一次性5%的财富税，所得资金将用于在联邦政府大幅削减开支后维持该州的医疗体系运转。
In California, progressives have crafted a ballot initiative that calls for a wealth tax—a one-time, five-per-cent tax on wealth above a billion dollars, earmarked to shore up the state’s health-care system after drastic federal cuts.
财富不平等问题令包括民主党人在内的各界人士深感忧虑，对巨额财富征税也广受民众支持。
Wealth inequality is a vast concern, especially among Democrats, and taxes on substantial wealth are broadly popular.
然而，正如撰稿人尼古拉斯·莱曼在《推动亿万富翁税的艰难历程》一文中所描述的那样，包括伊丽莎白·沃伦在内的众多知名民主党政要均不愿公开表态支持该提案。
Yet, as the staff writer Nicholas Lemann reports in “The Battle to Pass a Billionaire Tax” many prominent Democratic politicians, including Elizabeth Warren, have declined to support it publicly.
莱曼与大卫·雷姆尼克探讨了为何这一具有标志性意义的进步派议题推行起来如此困难。
Lemann talks with David Remnick about why this bellwether progressive issue faces such an uphill battle.