The idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers - that's an old idea that's failed every time it's been tried.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
A properly designed tax system can strike a balance between helping the poor and, at the same time, giving people the incentive to work.
The problem is government spends too much. So raising taxes is what politicians do, instead of reducing spending.
There are always ways to make government better, always ways to make sure that the taxes of people are better spent.
If anything, taxes for the lower and middle class and maybe even the upper middle class should even probably be cut further. But I think that people at the high end - people like myself - should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it.
I strongly support tax relief for the middle class.
My position has been consistent that middle class families should not pay more taxes. That hasn't changed.
Even tax breaks that are supposed to help the middle class too often skew toward the wealthy. Consider the mortgage interest deduction. While political leaders in both parties have long considered it untouchable, it actually helps those at the top of the income scale far more than those at the bottom.
If you want to do something to destroy consumer spending, just eat away at the middle class because the other problem we have is the structural problem of middle class America.
The basic idea that if you increase government spending or you cut people's taxes that stimulates the economy and lowers the unemployment rate, is a very widely accepted idea. It's in every economics textbook, that's what we teach our undergraduates, and I certainly try to teach them the truth.
Give tax breaks to large corporations, so that money can trickle down to the general public, in the form of extra jobs.