At CPAC Kudlow Defends The Top 1% For Paying Their Fair Share In Taxes

At CPAC today, Trump’s top economic advisor continued to defend the wealthiest 1 percent for supposedly paying their fair share in taxes, and got mad that the rest of us aren’t paying enough — and this isn’t the first time he’s said it. See for yourself:

 

Here’s Kudlow defending the top 1 percent at CPAC:

 

Kudlow: “Tax the rich, tax wealth, wealthy successful people don’t pay their fair share, I’m hearing that again. I thought I put that to bed 30 years ago when I was around here the last time. Wrong. So some facts. Some facts. The top 1% of income earners actually pay about 40% of all the taxes, 1% pays 40%. The top 10% pays nearly 70%. The bottom 50% pays 3%. So who pays the taxes? Successful people. Men and women, entrepreneurs already shoulder the biggest burden. Don’t let this tax fairness debate go by.”

 

And here’s a few of the many other times Kudlow’s carried weight for the wealthiest Americans:

 

Kudlow: “You know, I mean, you start taxing wealth like this, capital gains and inheritance taxes, all you are going to do is stop, is stop the momentum of new investment and new risk taking and new companies and new businesses and new technologies. Is that really what we want?  You know who pays the taxes in this country? The lower 50 percent pay 3 percent of the income taxes. The top 1 percent, Laura, they pay almost 40 percent. The top 10 percent pay about 80 percent. They are already paying the freight. How much do you want to load on them?”

 

Kudlow: “The top one percent pays 39 percent of the taxes. Top 5 percent, 60 percent of the taxes. The top 10 percent pay 70. And the top 25 percent pay 87 percent of the taxes. 87 percent. The top one percent actually pay more than the rest — bottom 90 percent. This business about not paying their fair share. Of course it’s successful men in women in business who pay the taxes in this country.”

Kudlow: “Just for argument sake, the top 1% of Americans pay 37% of all of the income taxes okay. And the top 1% basically pays more than the lowest 90%. So who is carrying the freight here?”