Nov 06, 2011

FACT CHECK: Boehner Defends The Ultra Wealthy, Falsely Claims Paying Their Fair Share Won’t Help

On ABC This Week, House Speaker John Boehner falsely claimed that asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share in taxes “won’t even put a dent in our current budget deficit.” Boehner went on to defend tax breaks for the ultra wealthy saying “Oh, come on! The top 1% pay 38% of the income taxes in America. How much more do you want them to pay?!”

In reality, the Washington Post found that tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires were one of the “biggest culprit[s], by far” in ballooning America’s debt and a surtax on millionaires would raise nearly $500 billion over the next ten years to pay down the deficit. In fact, 1,500 millionaires paid no income taxes in 2009 according to the IRS and hundreds of top companies paid less than half of their official taxes according to a recent study by Citizens for Tax Justice.

FACT CHECK

Millionaire’s Tax Would Raise $452.7 Billion Over Ten Years. According to the Congressional Budget Office, instituting a 5.6 percent surtax on millionaires would raise $452 billion over the next ten years. The proposed of 5.6 percent surtax would take effect in 2013 and apply to a taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income in excess of $1 million or $500,000 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return. It would also be indexed for inflation. [Congressional Budget Office, 10/7/11]

1,500 Millionaires Paid No Income Taxes In 2009. “At a time when America is borrowing about 40 cents of every dollar it spends because tax revenues cannot keep up with government spending, hundreds of America's wealthiest households are paying no income tax at all. According to a recently released IRS report, almost 1,500 of America's 230,000 millionaires avoided paying any federal income tax in 2009.” Most of the money went through tax “expenditures,” which are deductions, write-offs, subsidies and loopholes. [ABC News, 8/6/11; USA Today, 8/8/11; see also: IRS Publication 1304]

Biggest Public Firms Paid Little U.S. Tax, Study Says. “A comprehensive study released on Thursday found that 280 of the biggest publicly traded American companies faced federal income tax bills equal to 18.5 percent of their profits during the last three years — little more than half the official corporate rate of 35 percent and lower than their competitors in many industrialized countries.” [New York Times, 11/3/11]

More Debt from Bush-era tax policies. “All told, Obama-era choices account for about $1.7 trillion in new debt, according to a separate Washington Post analysis of CBO data over the past decade. Bush-era policies, meanwhile, account for more than $7 trillion and are a major contributor to the trillion-dollar annual budget deficits that are dominating the political debate. […] The biggest culprit, by far, has been an erosion of tax revenue triggered largely by two recessions and multiple rounds of tax cuts. Together, the economy and the tax bills enacted under former president George W. Bush, and to a lesser extent by President Obama, wiped out $6.3 trillion in anticipated revenue.” [Washington Post, 4/30/11]

Even as 40 House Republicans now Urge Revenue To Be Considered. “Breaking with party orthodoxy, 40 House Republicans urged Congress' supercommittee on Wednesday to consider all options for raising revenue as they hunt for ways to trim the gargantuan $14.8 trillion national debt. Though in a letter to the special debt-reduction panel the GOP lawmakers studiously avoided specific proposals that the signees admitted could shatter the group's unanimity, it seemed to at least crack the door open to the potential consideration of tax increases. That seemed to separate the 40 Republicans from many of their GOP colleagues, who have said they would only consider new revenue generated by a stronger economy.” [Associated Press, 11/2/11]

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