The GOP Debate, titled “Your Money, Your Vote” was supposed to look at finances. Instead, the night was full of fearmongering from candidates. Senator Ted Cruz even called it a “cage match.” While this is nothing new, neither is the fact that several after-the-debate reviews called BS on the candidates’ statements on taxes.
Carl Quintanilla’s first question framed the evening by asking about weakness. Candidates immediately understood they needed to appear human – or at least not entirely repulsive. Despite some human-esque moments, the GOP debate was, for the most part, a free flowing faucet of crazy.
Governor John Kasich of Ohio: I’ll Do Ohio All Over Again
Governor Kasich, who the Chicago Sun Times calls the GOP debate winner, answered that first question by not actually answering. Instead, he spouted a truth that probably shocked audiences and the GOP sensibilities.
Gov. Kasich on opponents’ tax plans: https://t.co/9JZRzf5Qq4 #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/3dcsqYWZiM
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) October 29, 2015
He said one candidate, referring to Trump but not actually saying his name, wanting to deport 10 or 11 million illegal immigrants is crazy. He then said the candidates’ tax plans are, “tax schemes that don’t add up.”
According to multiple fact checkers, he’s right – including Kasich’s own tax plan. He said his Ohio tax plan worked, and that he’d do “the same in Washington.”
“I went into Ohio where we had an $8 billion hole and now we have a $2 billion surplus. We’re up 347,000 jobs.“
Even though Politifact rates that claim “Mostly true,” the Tax Foundation, which runs on the conservative side, said it’s crap. According to Think Progress:
“It would give big boosts to the rich and the wealthy with severe cuts for everyone else.”
Gov. Kasich’s elimination of the estate tax would reduce revenue by more than $246 billion in the next decade alone. Logic dictates that if the Ohio plan is crap, using the same plan in Washington would also be crap.
Neurologist Ben Carson: Tithing is better than FairTax
Some think Dr. Carson’s biggest BS moment was his denial of any connection to Mannatech:
“I didn’t have an involvement with them. That is total propaganda, and this is what happens in our society. Total propaganda.”
Conservative mouthpiece, National Review, called Dr. Carson’s connection to the company “troubling,” and Politifact rates his denial as “false.” What’s even more troubling is Dr. Carson’s view on taxes.
A round-up of our #GOPDebate fact-checks so far: 2 Pants of Fires, 2 Trues and more to come: https://t.co/zmCw7yoD9m pic.twitter.com/70hxmnafTQ
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) October 29, 2015
As a Seventh Day Adventist, Dr. Carson regularly touts tithing, saying it would be good for Americans. If he gets elected, he’d implement tithing in place of taxes. Whether you call it a flat tax or tithing, Bloomberg says:
“One thing is indisputable: An unadulterated flat tax… would raise taxes on the poor and reduce them on the rich. That would almost certainly decrease net national happiness.”
Dr. Carson’s plan would not only make our government the right hand of the religious right by forcing the religious act of tithing on others, but it would make the rich richer and the poor poorer. It would also further increase the deficit almost $2 trillion, according to moderator Becky Quick, who “looked at the numbers.”
Sorry, Dr. Carson, the freedom of religion does not include the freedom to force religion on others, and abolishing the IRS doesn’t automatically fix the tax problem, either.
Governor Chris Christie: Socialist! Everyone Hide Your Money!
Gov. Christie spent most of the night fearmongering about how the “government is lying” about “stealing Social Security” from senior citizens, Politifact says it just doesn’t work that way.
His first statement of the night was even better, though, when he attempted a misguided effort to scare the socialist out of the audience:
“I see a socialist, an isolationist and a pessimist. And for the sake of me, I can’t figure out which one is which… The socialist says they’re going to pay for everything and give you everything for free, except they don’t say they’re going to raise it through taxes to 90 percent to do it. ”
Hold on a minute, Gov. Christie, because Politifact says you’re a liar, liar, “pants on fire!”
Chris Christie said Bernie Sanders would raise taxes to 90%. A similar claim was rated Pants on Fire https://t.co/7wKBvFzvPc
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) October 29, 2015
“Christie’s claim was equally problematic,” as Trump’s claim was, and that the fact is simply untrue hasn’t changed. Politifact found that:
“Sanders has never explicitly proposed a 90 percent tax rate for billionaires, let alone applying that rate across the board.”
The reality is that Sen. Sanders was talking about the marginal tax rate during Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidency, which was indeed 90 percent. In fact, according to Politifact, while there’s no question that Sen. Sanders wants to raise taxes on the rich, the actual tax rate won’t “approach anything near 90 percent,” for the affluent or for corporations, let alone the average American.
Interviewing with the American people isn’t so tough when you’ve got a crowd of people who agree with you. It’s those who don’t agree with their ideas and ideals the candidates have to try and win over.
That they know this and don’t care much doesn’t help. What’s worse is the outright BS on taxes, which tends to makes Gov. Kasich’s statement on candidate “fantasies” sound sane.
