The Washington Post (1/16/19) cited Scott Walker suggesting that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had “an elementary-school understanding” of taxes—without noting that his comment indicated that he didn’t understand what marginal tax rates are.
The Washington Post (1/16/19) had an article about how Republicans and right-wingers have become obsessed with trying to attack Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the newly elected representative from New York. At one point, it refers to former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on Ocasio-Cortez’s position advocating a high marginal tax rate on high-income individuals:
Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican who was defeated in November, on Tuesday mocked Ocasio-Cortez for her tax proposal and suggested it was an elementary-school understanding of the issue. “Even fifth graders get it,” he tweeted.
While the piece noted part of Ocasio-Cortez’s response, that rich people are the ones with the money, it left out the more important part: Walker misled the fifth graders he refers to in his tweet. In his tweet, Walker confuses a marginal tax rate with an average tax rate:
Explaining tax rates before Reagan to fifth graders: “Imagine if you did chores for your grandma and she gave you $10. When you got home, your parents took $7 from you.” The students said: “That’s not fair!” Even fifth graders get it.
Ocasio-Cortez correctly pointed out in her reply that the $10 the students earned for doing chores for their grandma would not be taxed, because the 70 percent tax rate she proposes would only apply to incomes above $10 million:
Explaining marginal taxes to a far-right former Governor:
Imagine if you did chores for abuela & she gave you $10. When you got home, you got to keep it, because it’s only $10.
Then we taxed the billionaire in town because he’s making tons of money underpaying the townspeople.
Ocasio-Cortez is right on this point and Walker is wrong. He either does not understand how our income tax system works, or is deliberately lying to advance his agenda. Either way, the Post should have pointed out that Walker was wrong.
Many people are confused about the concept of a marginal tax rate. (The higher tax rate only applies to the income above a cutoff.) Opponents of high marginal taxes on the rich try to take advantage of this confusion in the way Scott Walker did with his class of fifth graders. It is the media’s responsibility to try to inform people about how the tax system works and to expose politicians who misrepresent the issue.
A version of this post originally appeared on CEPR’s blog Beat the Press (1/16/19).
Messages can be sent to the Washington Post at letters@washpost.com, or via Twitter @washingtonpost. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.
“He either does not understand how our income tax system works, or is deliberately lying to advance his agenda.”
As a lifelong Wisconsin resident, who suffered through 8 yrs of SW’s governorship, which was proceeded by 8 yrs of his abysmal County Executive tenure in Milwaukee County where I reside, I’m here to report that the correct answer to the above rumination is ‘both of the above’. Walker was always a dim-bulb with weasel-ily instincts, so therefore he was considered a prominent Republican here in cheddar-head land. He never finished college so he’s certainly no brain-trust, and many naive voters learned to their detriment just how irrelevant his campaign promises were to the truth.
Totally agree with you on Walker, about his moral character and intelligence,
but not graduating from college has nothing to do with any of those failings.
There are plenty of non-college graduates that could do a superior job to
Scott Walker as Governor, and the “brain-trust” comment is offensive.
Scooter lies to 5th graders.
Scott Walker—as the Greeks once said : “The eyes are the mirror to the soul.” I have never seen a man with such dead looking eyes—and yet he is alive. My favorite Scott Walker story was when a radio personality called him and pretended to be , I think one of the Koch brothers. Scott Walker fell for the ruse—-he and no idea. I don’t think he’s really ever had an idea. Wisconsin’s state bird is the robin, but your ex governor was robbin’ the state every minute. Thank goodness he is gone.
> My favorite Scott Walker story was when a radio personality called him and pretended to be , I think one of the Koch brothers. Scott Walker fell for the ruse—-he and no idea.
That was hilarious, but you guys still voted for him nevertheless, and you are dead-on about his dead looking eyes … dead and stupid.
Here is the link to that phone call: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5alwd0bONoY
Readers of this article may want to read up further about income taxes from the so-called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) school of thought, which explains very clearly how *most* explanations of how taxes work are based on indefensible myths and lack any logical or mathematical basis. Jim Kavanagh at The Polemicist wrote two articles that are worth reading in this regard: “Behind the Money Curtain: A Left Take on Taxes, Spending, and Modern Monetary Theory” and “‘Taxpayer Money’ Threatens Medicare-for-All (And Every Other Social Program)”. Kavanagh’s articles explain much more clearly than Baker’s article the clear ideological underpinnings of the political right’s intentionally misleading descriptions of taxes, and how those in the political center and on the political left have sadly capitulated to the political right’s framing of the issue (hence miring themselves in a hopeless, endless and unwinnable debate). Baker suggests that Walker is lying, but as Kavanagh explains, Walker is really just carrying water for the larger goal of *diverting attention* from real political battles. If the left had real political power, it wouldn’t matter if Walker was lying would it?
> If the left had real political power, it wouldn’t matter if Walker was lying would it?
Maybe that is why the left doesn’t have real political power, they do not know what
is going on and they do not find out. We seems to follow a wink-wink greater fool
theory in the US economy, whoever can be tricked or lied to and not be able to know
or do anything about … well, it’s on them. So the whole incentive for our entire country
is about benefitting from cheating and depending on people being stupid … and it has
not led us to a good place socially or economically either.
All income above a million a year should be taxed at 100 percent, and if some poor slob is too stupid to get by on a mere million he should be given a free class in money management at the local junior college.
This is such an important issue to educate the American people on.
The whole illegitimate and illogical attacks on Democratic Socialism
is built on lies like this and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was not only
right to make that point, but when she finds a solid dishonesty that
is common to all Republicans she ought it hit at it loudly and
repeatedly.
I have always had questions about SW ethics or lack thereof.
Scott Walker is part of ALEC. American Legislative Exchange Council.
https://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed
Here is a 36 page list of the congressmen and their lobbyists that are involved
http://documentedinvestigations.org/2018/03/08/revealed-names-alec-lobbyist-legislator-members/
Here is a good example of how ALEC works
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/the-pension-gamble/
Walker needs to stop pretending he knows what he’s talking about. He has absolutely no clue how even the simplest things work. The only reason he got as far as he did was because he slept under the Koch brothers bunk beds at night, and when the Kochs occasionally talked in their sleep, the information was encrypted into Walkers mind subliminally. No actual conscious learning was involved. You can actually see, if you look at some of Walkers press photos, the Koch’s puppet strings tugging on Walkers suits and shirts.