[jeremy_arnold]

As I've said elsewhere, if the US wants to set some max window for realizing gains, that could be fine. ProPublica and others are welcome to write opeds arguing for it. People can debate that on its own merits.

The difference between this and deferring wage income is that wages don't need to be liquidated. And that's not a small difference.

[md_]

Worth noting that the IRS taxes earned income even if granted as stocks or options, forcing liquidation. Your arguments against forcing liquidation apply equally to RSUs, yet the real-world treatment is different.