2020 presidential contender Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) released 10 years of his tax returns right before he participated in a town hall with Fox News.
It turns out the self-proclaimed socialist belongs to the 1% his side hates. The returns also show that he donated little to charity despite making a ton of money.
From Fox News:
According to the returns, Sanders and his wife paid a 26 percent effective tax rate on $561,293 in income, and made more than $1 million in both 2016 and 2017. Sanders donated only $10,600 to charity in 2016 and $36,300 in 2017, the records showed, followed by nearly $19,000 in 2018.But pressed by anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum as to why he was holding onto his wealth rather than refusing deductions or writing a check to the Treasury Department, Sanders began laughing dismissively and, in an apparent non sequitur, asked why MacCallum didn’t donate her salary. (“I didn’t suggest a wealth tax,” MacCallum responded.)”Pfft, come on. I paid the taxes that I owe,” Sanders shot back. “And by the way, why don’t you get Donald Trump up here and ask him how much he pays in taxes? President Trump watches your network a little bit, right? Hey President Trump, my wife and I just released 10 years. Please do the same.”
Sanders has always pressured for the wealthy, which would include himself, to pay their “fair share,” yet he willingly accepts the tax cuts and refuses to send more of his wealth to the Treasury Department.
When called out on it, Sanders attempted to deflect. From The Daily Wire:
A few moments later, Fox News host Martha MacCallum pressed Sanders again on the issue, asking: “So would you be willing to pay 52% on the money that you made? You can volunteer, you can send it back.””You can volunteer too,” Sanders responded. “Martha, why don’t you give? You make more money than I do.””I didn’t suggest a wealth tax,” MacCallum replied.”And she’s not running for president,” Baier added.
Brett Baier asked Sanders if his success and decision to hold onto his wealth isn’t “an implicit endorsement of the capitalist system he has repeatedly called dysfunctonal (sic).” Of course Sanders said no, but explained that he wants everyone in this country to have an opportunity and tried to connect it to people not having a college degree and that a lot of them “are not United States senators.”
I don’t get this. At all. He cannot give a straight answer and deflects all the time. He accepts the tax cuts he railed against, yet accepted them. He also took advantage of the tax deductions, which everyone should do. But the hypocrisy is too much.
Progressives have lashed out at Sanders. ThinkProgress released a video that mocked him after he changed his “millionaires and billionaires” attacks to just billionaires after he raked in millions after his best selling book. The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift said that he will need “to change his rhetoric to railing against billionaire and zillionaires to keep his brand.”
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