Billions: THE ZERO DEBT PLAY

[Axe Capital war room. Trading screens flash red and green. Bobby stands in front of a giant display showing U.S. debt projections. Mike Wagner sprawls in his chair, feet up. Taylor sits perfectly still, studying numbers on a tablet. Wendy Rhoades observes from the corner, arms crossed.]

BOBBY: (cutting through the ambient noise) The U.S. government is running the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, and nobody's calling bullshit. Thirty-four trillion in debt. Interest payments alone are bleeding us dry. (slams hand on table) But I see the play no one else has the balls to make.

WAGS: (sipping scotch at 10 AM) Please tell me we're shorting Treasury bonds. I've been itching to bet against Uncle Sam since my last audit.

BOBBY: (with predatory focus) Better. We're going to show them how to wipe out the entire federal debt by 2054. Not because I've suddenly grown a conscience, but because a debt crisis would fuck us all. And I don't like being fucked.

TAYLOR: (without looking up) The math is prohibitive. Current projections show the debt reaching 44 trillion by 2035. We'd need structural changes that no politician has the spine to implement.

BOBBY: (grinning) That's why we're not politicians, Taylor. We're the ones who see opportunity where others see impossibility. (turns to screen) First move: the individual tax code. We butcher the sacred cow.

[Bobby swipes the screen to show a new set of tax brackets]

BOBBY: Zero tax on the first 25k. That's the baseline—everyone gets breathing room. Then we climb: 10% up to 50k, 20% to 100k, 30% to 250k. From there, it gets serious—40% to a million, 50% to 5 million, then 70% on everything above that. Progressive as fuck.

WENDY: (stepping forward) That's a psychological trigger for the wealthy. They'd rather burn their money than give 70 cents on the dollar to the government.

BOBBY: (nodding) Exactly right, Wendy. So we give them an out. (turns to another screen) Charitable giving—fully deductible. You don't want to pay us? Fine. Build a fucking hospital instead. We all win.

WAGS: (laughing) Jesus Christ, Bobby. You're turning tax avoidance into philanthropy. That's goddamn beautiful.

BOBBY: (intense) Next, capital gains. The real meat. No more of this preferential rate bullshit. You make money on investments? You pay the same as the guy breaking his back for a paycheck. Long-term, short-term—doesn't matter. Money is money.

TAYLOR: (challenging) That creates a massive disincentive for investment. Markets would contract 12-15% immediately.

BOBBY: (dismissive) Short-term pain. Markets adjust. But here's the kicker—short-term speculation gets an additional 15% surcharge. Hold less than a year? Pay extra. We're rewarding builders, punishing flippers.

WAGS: (perking up) Speaking of punishment, tell me we're going after those offshore havens. I've got a list of clients who would shit themselves.

BOBBY: (with vicious satisfaction) Every single one. Global minimum tax of 15%. You park money in the Caymans? We tax it anyway. Hide your assets? Triple penalties—50% of what you concealed. And we boost the IRS budget by 300% to hunt down every last dollar.

TAYLOR: (raising an eyebrow) That's assuming we can track the sophisticated structures. Shell companies within shell companies, distributed across jurisdictions with banking secrecy laws.

BOBBY: (leaning toward Taylor) That's why we mandate blockchain reporting for all transactions over 10k. Can't hide when every movement leaves a digital fingerprint. (paces) And for the ultra-wealthy—net worth over 50 million—a 2% annual wealth tax. No more sitting on billions while paying less than your housekeeper.

WAGS: (whistling) The billionaire's club is going to put a hit out on you, Bobby.

BOBBY: (unfazed) They can try. But first, they'll have to get through the estate tax. (brings up another screen) Exemption drops to 1 million per person. After that, 30% up to 10 million, scaling to 75% above a billion. You want to pass on dynastic wealth? We're taking three-quarters.

WENDY: (thoughtful) This isn't just about revenue. You're attacking the concentration of wealth itself.

BOBBY: (nodding) Because concentration suffocates competition. And without competition, capitalism dies. (eyes gleaming) Now for the corporate side. Progressive rates again—20% up to 10 million in profits, 30% to 100 million, 40% beyond that. Big Tech, Wall Street—they pay their share.

TAYLOR: (calculating) Based on current corporate earnings, that would generate approximately $580 billion annually, assuming no behavioral changes.

BOBBY: (sharper) There will be behavioral changes. That's the point. Companies will reinvest rather than hoard. They'll raise wages to get the deduction. They'll build instead of buying back stock. And if they have windfall profits—more than 200% of their average? We take half.

WAGS: (grinning) Christ, Bobby, you're not trimming the hedges. You're taking a flamethrower to the whole garden.

BOBBY: (with intensity) Sometimes you need to burn it down to build something better. (turns to the main screen) The additional numbers: $1.1 trillion from individuals. $350 billion from capital gains. $175 billion from estate taxes. $580 billion from corporations. That's over $2 trillion a year. Thirty years, factor in interest savings and growth—debt gone.

TAYLOR: (skeptical) Implementation would be a nightmare. The transition costs alone would—

BOBBY: (cutting them off) Ten-year phase-in. Automated compliance systems. A non-partisan commission that adjusts rates based on real-time economic data. This isn't set in stone—it's a living strategy that adapts.

WENDY: (probing) The political blowback would be nuclear. How do you counter that?

BOBBY: (with absolute conviction) By showing them the endgame. No federal debt means no interest payments. That's almost a trillion a year back in play. Lower taxes in the future. More spending on things that matter. Economic stability for decades. This isn't just about paying bills—it's about fucking freedom.

WAGS: (raising his glass) To freedom through fiscal responsibility. Never thought I'd say those words sober.

TAYLOR: (finally looking up) The math works. But you're asking the most powerful people in the country to sacrifice immediate gain for long-term stability. That's not human nature.

BOBBY: (with dangerous confidence) It's not about asking, Taylor. It's about changing the rules of the game so they have no choice. (looks around the room) When this debt bomb finally explodes, no one will be safe—not Axe Capital, not the billionaire class, no one. I'm not playing politics here. I'm playing survival.

WENDY: (impressed) You've thought this through from every angle.

BOBBY: (nodding) Always do. I've made billions seeing what others can't—or won't. This time, I'm seeing a fucking fiscal cliff, and I'm not jumping off it because Congress can't do basic math.

[Bobby turns back to the main screen, zooming out to show the full debt projection curve, then the curve bending down to zero]

BOBBY: (with finality) Zero debt by 2054. Not because it's easy. Because the alternative is a crash that makes '08 look like a fucking speed bump. And I didn't build Axe Capital to watch it burn because some politicians can't balance a checkbook.

WAGS: (raising his glass higher) To the Zero Debt Play. May it save our asses while we save the country.

TAYLOR: (closing their tablet) I'll start modeling the transition scenarios.

BOBBY: (with that signature Axelrod intensity) Good. Because this isn't charity. This is the biggest alpha opportunity of our lifetime. We position correctly for this, we don't just survive—we dominate for the next century.

[Bobby's gaze hardens as he looks at the debt curve flattening to zero. A predator who's spotted his prey.]

FADE OUT