Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) recently floated the idea of taxing America’s wealthiest citizens up to 90 percent in an interview with Yahoo News.
“So there are a few things that we could do. One of them is that we could increase the taxes that people are paying who are the extremely wealthy in our communities” Omar said. “Seventy percent, 80 percent, we’ve had it as high as 90 percent.”
The comments came in the context of a discussion about Omar’s support for the Green New Deal, a progressive climate change proposal put forward by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY-14). The proposal would convert the U.S. economy entirely to renewable sources of energy in 12 years and establish a universal basic income.
It would, of course, require radical tax hikes on America’s wealthiest. During a recent 60 Minutes interview, Ocasio-Cortez welcomed the “radical” label, telling host Anderson Cooper that “if that’s what radical means, [then] call me a radical.”
“There’s an element where, yeah, people are going to have to start paying their fair share in taxes,” she said. “You know, you look at our tax rates back in the ‘60s, and when you have a progressive tax rate system, your tax rate, you know, from let’s say zero to $75,000 may be 10 percent or 15 percent, etc.”
“But once you get to like the tippy tops on your 10 millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent. It doesn’t mean all ten million dollars are taxed at an extremely high rate, but it means as you climb up this ladder you should be contributing more,” she said.
Omar said Tuesday that she’s “with” Ocasio-Cortez.
Actually… I said "we've had it as high as 90 percent." But why bother watching the video when you can post a clickbait caption!
For the record, I'm with @AOC. If you're earning more than $10 million, those earnings should be taxed at 70%. And the American people are with us 💪🏽 https://t.co/T27b9o19Uo
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) January 29, 2019
“If you’re earning more than $10 million, those earnings should be taxed at 70 percent. And the American people are with us,” she stated, but contested Yahoo’s claim that she supports a 90 percent tax rate.
“Actually, I said ‘we’ve had it as high as 90 percent.’ But why bother watching the video when you can post a click-bait caption,” Omar tweeted.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Ilhan Omar Interview” by Yahoo News.
Headline is a lie.
She said “we’ve had it as high as 90%”, which is true. Saying we’ve had a tax rate that high in the past is not the same as even floating the idea.