Subject: Re: Biden's billionaire tax rate fact checked
Until that boat is in his Driveway. Mr Savvy should not be taxed on the potential of him buying it.

Why not? If one neighbor earns $1M in wages, and the second neighbor earns $1M through appreciate investments, they've both earned $1M regardless of whether either buys a boat or not. The $1M reflected in Mr. Savvy's brokerage statement is no less real than the $1M reflected in the neighbor's bank statement. They both have the same amount of wealth - something that is readily apparent if the neighbor takes his $1M in dollars and invests it in the same stocks as Mr. Savvy, so they both have $1M in the same securities, just with a different basis. The neighbor's wealth hasn't dropped by $1M simply because he invested in the market, subjecting his assets to some non-zero risk of falling.

Unrealized gains aren't "abstract." They are real, concrete increases in your wealth - and that wealth increase isn't zero just because it's held in stocks with a low basis instead of a bank account (or an after-tax portfolio with a high basis).