Vox reporter suggests 99 percent tax on unvaccinated citizens, critics slam as 'racist,' 'unconstitutional'

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In media news today, the CDC gets hit by liberal media outlets for 'confusing message' on wearing masks, WaPo's Max Boot gets ripped for tweeting Saudi Arabia is 'more progressive' than the U.S. for vaccine mandate, and NBC's Tokyo Olympics coverage spurs 'advertiser anxiety' as viewers continue to drop

Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser suggested on Thursday that Congress should increase the taxes of unvaccinated citizens to coerce them into getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Congress should increase the income tax rate on taxpayers who are unvaccinated, and who have no legitimate religious or medical reason to be unvaccinated, to 99 percent. This could be done through reconciliation," Millhiser tweeted. 

Some on social media immediately criticized Millhiser's proposal because it would disproportionately affect people of color.

BIDEN SAYS FEDERAL WORKERS MUST BE VACCINATED OR UNDERGO REGULAR TESTING, MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING 

A recent study of those vaccinated from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that although vaccination rates have risen slightly, Black and Hispanic citizens still lag behind white ones in a majority of states.

"Overall, across these 40 states, the percent of White people who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose (48%) was roughly 1.3 times higher than the rate for Black people (36%) and 1.2 times higher than the rate for Hispanic people (41%) as of July 19, 2021," the study found. "As of July 19, less than half of Black and Hispanic people have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose in the vast majority of states reporting data."

Others called slammed proposal as unconstitutional and extreme. 

One user wrote "15 days to slow the spread To You don’t deserve a paycheck if you’re not vaccinated."

"Holy unconstitutionality, batman!" another commented.

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Milhiser, who is known as being an outspoken liberal, also shared on Thursday his support for NPR’s new policy in allowing journalists to advocate for "freedom and dignity of human beings" in social media and in real life. 

"This seems like a pretty significant moment in the fight over whether journalists have to pretend that democracy and fascism are equally good," he wrote.