Conservative economist Ben Stein told panelists on “Fox & Friends” that the government doesn’t just have a spending problem, it also has a “too low taxes problem.”
“I hate to say this on Fox – I hope I’ll be allowed to leave here alive – but I don’t think there is any way we can cut spending enough to make a meaningful difference, we’re going to have to raise taxes on very, very rich people. People with incomes of, say, $2, $3, $4 million a year and up. And then slowly, slowly, slowly move it down. $250,000 a year, that’s not a rich person.”
“With all due respect to Fox, who I love like brothers and sisters, taxes are too low,” he added.
Gretchen Carlson: “That sounds like Bowles-Simpson.”
Ben Stein: “It is Bowles-Simpson. The evidence is that there is no clear connection between the level of taxation and the level of economic activity. The biggest growth and prosperity we’ve ever had in this country was from roughly 1941 to 1973. That was the best years we’ve ever had and those were years of much higher taxes than we have now.”
Steve Doocy: “Taxes were at 70, 80 percent then.”
Ben Stein: “And yet, we were very prosperous. The highest rate was in the 90s during parts of the 50s, and yet we were very prosperous.”
More:
“Ben Stein Apologizes Profusely for Being Truthful About Taxes on Fox News,” Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic
“Ben Stein jokes that Fox News might kill him for telling them taxes are ‘too low,’” David Edwards, Raw Story
“Cut Spending or Raise Taxes? Follow the Bipartisan Bowles-Simpson Formula and Do Both,” Isabel V. Sawhill, The Brookings Institution
___________________
Short Link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-eEQ
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine
Tags: Ben Stein, Bowles-Simpson, Fox and Friends, Fox News, income tax, tax policy, tax rates, taxes
November 12, 2012 at 12:39 am
UPDATE:
“Bill Kristol wants to raise taxes on millionaires,” Jillian Rayfield, Salon