Jeb Bush tried to argue that his tax plan gives “disproportionately to the middle class.” But when pressed by Fox host Chris Wallace, he had to admit that the top earners get the lion’s share of the spoils.
During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Wallace discussed the “two major criticisms” to Bush’s plan. The first was that it would reportedly add to the deficit. Then, as Wallace brought up the other criticism, that the bulk of the tax cuts goes to the one percent, Bush first argued that the middle class benefits “disproportionately.” But when presented with facts and figures, he said, “of course,” the one percent will get more. From the Fox News transcript:
WALLACE: Then there's another complaint, and that is the issue of who benefits. The Tax Foundation says the middle class would see after tax income increase 2.9 percent. But the top 1 percent would get a boost of 11.6 percent.
An analysis of your tax returns for the last six years, which you have released to the public, the last six years indicates that you would save, under your tax plan, $3 million.
Does Jeb Bush need a $3 million tax cut?
BUSH: Look, the benefit of this goes disproportionately to the middle class. If you look at what the middle class pays today compared to what they would pay in our tax plan --
WALLACE: But they get a 2.9 percent increase in after tax income --
BUSH: Because higher income people pay more taxes right now and proportionally, everybody will get a benefit. But proportionally, they'll pay more in with my plan than what they pay today.
WALLACE: Well, I mean forgive me, sir, but -- but 2.9 seems like it's less than 11.6.
BUSH: The simple fact is 1 percent of people pay 40 percent of all the taxes. And so, of course, tax cuts for everybody is going to generate more for people that are paying a lot more. I mean that's just the way it is.
Wallace didn’t mention that under President Obama, the deficit has plunged. But putting that aside, he did a good job of grilling Bush.
Watch it below, from the September 27 Fox News Sunday. By the way, this was yet another Fox News Sunday without any Democratic guests.
And, if you don’t mind my adding, Jeb!, if you and your fellow conservaturds will get your sorry heads out of your sorry asses (keeping my language clean here, folks), you’d realize that the poor and middle classes pay far larger shares of their available income than do the 1%. Stop all this stupid right-wing deflection on taxes. It’s not all about “income tax”—there are the hundreds of OTHER taxes (mostly sales and use taxes) that eat up larger portions of the poor and middle classes’ money.
And your sorry tax “plan” will do NOTHING to put more money in the pockets of the poor and middle classes that will mean anything.
