Subject: DEBATE FACT CHECK: Republican Trickle-Down Tax Policies Fail the Middle Class
From: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
To: DNC Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 2015 01:44:36 +0000

DEBATE FACT CHECK: Republican Trickle-Down Tax Policies Fail the Middle Class

Republicans are now at the point in the evening where they tout their tax plans that disproportionately prop up the wealthy and powerful corporations instead of looking out for middle and working class Americans.

Republicans continue to push for the same failed tax policies the prioritize those at the very top.  These tired trickle-down policies that Americans continue to reject make it clear that Republicans will not fight for hardworking Americans.

JEB BUSH'S TAX PLAN WOULD SLASH TAXES FOR THE WEALTHIEST AMERICANS

Wall Street Journal: "A New Analysis By The Business-Backed Tax Foundation Shows That The Biggest Percentage Increases In After-Tax Income Under Mr. Bush's Tax Plan Would Go To The Top 1% Of Earners." "A new analysis by the business-backed Tax Foundation shows that the biggest percentage increases in after-tax income under Mr. Bush's tax plan would go to the top 1% of earners, people making more than about $406,000. They would see their after-tax incomes increase on average by 11.6%, according to the analysis. That's the biggest change for any income group." [Wall Street Journal, 9/10/15<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/09/10/top-1-are-biggest-winners-in-jeb-bushs-tax-plan/>]

*         HEADLINE: "Jeb Bush's Tax Plan Is A Large Tax Cut For The Wealthiest" [New York Times, 9/9/15<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/upshot/jeb-bushs-tax-plan-is-a-large-tax-cut-for-the-wealthiest.html>]

*         HEADLINE: "Top 1% Are Biggest Winners in Jeb Bush's Tax Plan" [Wall Street Journal, 9/10/15<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/09/10/top-1-are-biggest-winners-in-jeb-bushs-tax-plan/>]

CARSON'S FLAT TAX PLAN WOULD MEAN LOW AND MIDDLE INCOME FAMILIES WOULD GET A BIG TAX HIKE, WHILE WEALTHY FAMILIES WOULD ACTUALLY GET A TAX CUT

Fox News' Chris Wallace To Ben Carson On His Flat Tax Plan: "Low And Middle Income Families Would Get A Big Tax Hike, While Wealthy Families Would Actually Get A Tax Cut."  BEN CARSON: "Well, I like the idea of a proportional tax. That way you pay according to your ability. And I got that idea, quite frankly, from the Bible, tithing. You make $10 billion a year, you pay $1 billion. You make $10 a year, you pay $1." ... CHRIS WALLACE: "But, Doctor, here is a problem with flat tax in the real world -- according to the Tax Policy Center, to raise the same amount of revenue we do now, the tax rate would have to be in the low to mid 20 percent range." CARSON: "Wrong." WALLACE: "Low and middle income families would get a big tax hike, while wealthy families would actually get a tax cut." [Fox News Sunday, Fox News, 5/10/15]

CHRIS CHRISTIE CALLED TO SLASH TAXES FOR THE WEALTHIEST AMERICANS

Christie Called To Lower The Corporate Tax Rate And The Tax Rate For The Wealthiest Americans By Approximately 10 Percent Each. "Christie suggested halving the number of income tax brackets down to three from six rates and lowering the top tax rate to 28% down from the current maximum rate of 39% for the wealthiest Americans... The New Jersey governor also proposed reducing the corporate tax rate to 25% from today's 35% high, arguing that reducing the rate will attract businesses and incentivize companies to stay in the U.S." [CNN, 5/12/15<http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/12/politics/chris-christie-tax-plan-new-hampshire/>]

TED CRUZ SUPPORTS FLAT TAX PLANS THAT COULD HURT THE MIDDLE CLASS IN ORDER TO GIVE THE WEALTHY BIG TAX BREAKS

Ted Cruz: "Big Picture, I'm A Flat Tax Guy." "CRUZ: Big picture, I'm a flat tax guy. Low and simple. Now, that's not easy to do. A lot of forces in Washington, a lot of lobbyists don't want it." [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 3/17/15]

Citizens For Tax Justice: Ted Cruz Supports "Radical Tax Plans That Would Dramatically Increase Taxes On Poor And Middle Class Americans In Order To Pay For Huge Tax Cuts For The Wealthiest Americans." "Texas Senator, and now presidential candidate, Ted Cruz is a supporter of radical tax plans that would dramatically increase taxes on poor and middle class Americans in order to pay for huge tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans." [Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/23/15<http://www.taxjusticeblog.org/archive/2015/03/how_presidential_candidate_ted.php#.VRITo47F8SW>]

HUCKABEE SUPPORTED THE FAIR TAX, WHICH WOULD INCREASE THE TAX BURDEN ON THE MIDDLE CLASS

Huckabee Supported The "Fair Tax" Which Is A Consumption Tax. MIKE HUCKABEE: "One of the reasons that I'm so passionate about the fair tax, which is a tax on consumption, not on income, capital gains, savings and inheritance, is because it is the single most transformative thing we can do for the economy." [Mornings With Maria, Fox Business, 7/31/15]

*         American's For Fair Taxation Admitted That Those Earning Between $40,000 And $100,000 Would See Their Tax Burden Increase Under The Fair Tax. "We found that including all the taxes that the FairTax would replace (income, payroll, corporate and estate taxes), those earning less than $24,156 per year would benefit. AFT's Burton agreed that those earning more than $200,000 would see their share of the overall tax burden decrease, admitting that 'probably those earning between $40[thousand] and $100,000' would see their percentage of the tax burden rise." [Factcheck.org, 5/31/07<http://www.factcheck.org/2007/05/unspinning-the-fairtax/>]

KASICH PROPOSED TAX CHANGES THAT BENEFITTED THE WEALTHY

Kasich: "You Raise Taxes On These Upper Income People...You Guys Are Crazy." KASICH: "And I, Joe Biden called me after the election, and I said Joe, I'm going to tell you, you raise taxes on these upper income people, you raise taxes on capital gains and dividends, you guys are crazy." [Hugh Hewitt Show, 11/19/10]

Kasich's Ohio Budget Cut Taxes For The Top 1 Percent While Raising The Overall Tax Burden On The Bottom 60 Percent Of Earners. "Only the top 40 percent of Ohio income-earners would get a tax break as a group under Gov. John Kasich's two-year budget plan to cut state income tax by $5.7 billion and raise other types of taxes by $5.2 billion, a new analysis says. That means the bottom 60 percent as a group - Ohioans making under $58,000 annually -- would pay more in state and local taxes... The top 1 percent of Ohio's earners - those making more than $388,000 a year -- would receive an average of $11,906 in tax cuts, the analysis found." [Columbus Dispatch, 2/10/15<http://www.dispatch.com/content/blogs/the-daily-briefing/2015/02/10022015---policy-matters.html>]

RAND PAUL THINKS WE NEED TO LOWER TAXES ON THE WEALTHIEST AMERICANS IF WE WANT THEM TO PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE, SO HE PROPOSED A PLAN THAT DID SO

Rand Paul: If The President "Wants A More Fair And Balanced Income Tax, He's Going To Have To Lower Rates Dramatically For The Upper Income Folks." RAND PAUL: "You know, we are at a point where if you get too many people receiving from government and too many people not paying taxes to support it, they're not really -- they don't have skin in the game. And I am afraid they -- the system may slip away from us. And the president referred to this a couple of times. But he doesn't quite understand or acknowledged that when he says the rich need to pay their fair share, that 10 percent -- the top 10 percent of wage earners pay 70 percent of the income tax. So if wants a more fair and balanced income tax, he's going to have to lower rates dramatically for the upper income folks, because they are paying all of the income tax right now." [Stossel, Fox Business, 1/24/12]

Urban Institute Fellow Howard Gleckman Said Rand Paul's Tax Cuts Would Lead To A "Huge Increase In The Budget Deficit And Debt" And Would Disproportionately Benefit The Wealthy. "Howard Gleckman, a resident fellow at the Urban Institute who focuses on tax policy and long-term care issues, disagrees with Paul on where this slashing of tax rates would lead. He told The Huffington Post that Paul's tax proposal would amount to a 'huge increase in the budget deficit and debt,' which would disproportionately benefit wealthy Americans. 'There's a lot of details that he leaves out, so until you fill in some of those holes, it's impossible to really know,' Gleckman said regarding the cost of the plan. 'Overall, a very, very big tax cut for everybody.'" [Huffington Post, 6/18/15<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/18/rand-paul-flat-tax_n_7613470.html>]

MARCO RUBIO'S TAX PLAN LET THE WEALTHY CASH IN, WHILE RAISING MARGINAL TAX RATES ON A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF MIDDLE-CLASS FAMILIES

Washington Post's Jim Tankersley: Rubio's Tax Plan Let "Rich Taxpayers Cash In" By Eliminating Taxes On Capital Gains And Dividends Which "Overwhelmingly" Benefits The Wealthy. "The latest version of Rubio's tax plan, which he released with fellow Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in March, shrinks the income tax down to two rates, lowering the top rate in the process, and includes new tax breaks for working families. It also eliminates all taxes on dividends and capital gains.  That's where rich taxpayers cash in. They are overwhelmingly the ones in the economy who draw income from capital, such as holdings and sales of stocks." [Jim Tankersley, Washington Post, 4/14/15<http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/04/14/this-tax-break-for-the-rich-muddles-marco-rubios-middle-class-message/>]

*         National Review's Veronique De Rugy: The Rubio Tax Plan Raises Marginal Tax Rates "On A Significant Number Of Middle-Class And Upper-Middle Class Households."  "I assume this is the reason Rubio and Lee not only aren't proposing a bigger reduction in the top income tax rate, but are even raising marginal tax rates on a significant number of middle-class and upper-middle class households. (The 35 percent top tax rate in the plan takes effect at just $75,000 of income for single households and $150,000 for married households!" [Veronique De Rugy, National Review, 3/11/15<http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/415155/some-thoughts-about-rubio-lee-tax-plan-veronique-de-rugy>]

TRUMP SUPPORTED REGRESSIVE TAX POLICIES LIKE A FLAT TAX OR THE "FAIR TAX "

Trump Supported Replacing The Income Tax With Either A Flat Tax Or The "Fair Tax" And Repealing The Corporate Income Tax. "Trump overcame his moral objections to the flat tax. On April 15, he told Fox News that he'd like to replace the income tax with 'either a fair tax' (i.e., a national sales tax), 'a flat tax or certainly a simplified code.' He also proposes repealing the corporate income tax because, he wrote in his 2011 book, it would 'create an unprecedented jobs boom.'" [Politico, 7/26/15<http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/will-the-real-donald-trump-please-stand-up-120607.html>]

*         Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy: Trump's Policies On Taxes Would "Likely Sharply Increase The National Debt And Make The U.S. Tax System Substantially More Regressive By Both Cutting Taxes For The Rich And Creating A Massive New Tax That Would Disproportionately Hurt Lower-Income Americans." "Billionaire businessman, television personality and now presidential candidate Donald Trump is the latest candidate to jump into the race. He has made a number of tax proposals. His more recent proposals, in contrast to ones he proposed back around the 2000 election, would likely sharply increase the national debt and make the U.S. tax system substantially more regressive by both cutting taxes for the rich and creating a massive new tax that would disproportionately hurt lower-income Americans." [Institute On Taxation And Economic Policy, 6/22/15<http://www.taxjusticeblog.org/archive/2015/06/donald_trumps_regressive_and_r.php#.VZK9tPlVigW>]

SCOTT WALKER CUT TAXES FOR WEALTHY WISCONSINITES WHILE RAISING TAXES ON LOWER INCOME FAMILIES

HEADLINE: "Top Wage Earners Get Biggest Benefit From Gov. Scott Walker's Tax Cuts." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1/24/14<http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/top-wage-earners-taxpayers-get-biggest-benefit-from-walker-tax-cuts-b99191408z1-241905661.html>]

2011: Analysis Of Scott Walker's Budget Showed It Would Increase Taxes For Low And Moderate Income Families By $49 Million Over Two Years. "A new nonpartisan analysis of Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal shows that it would raise taxes for poor people while decreasing taxes overall. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau report shows that taxes for low and moderate income people would increase more than $49 million over two years. The largest increases would come for families who qualify for the earned income tax credit and homeowners who receive a homestead tax credit." [Associated Press, 4/15/11<http://www.wxow.com/story/14458137/copy-analysis-shows-walker-would-raise-taxes-on-poor>]