On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT) responded to a question on if he would support increasing taxes on the wealthy by stating that “I’ll go back to, probably, Benjamin Franklin, the merchant should not pay the same as a candlemaker. And even Teddy Roosevelt said, the more you make, the more you have an obligation to pay to protect the system that allowed you the opportunity to make more money.” And he’s fine with raising taxes on top earners as long as people still have an incentive to earn.
Co-host Pamela Brown asked, “What do you think about this idea of taxing the wealthiest President Trump has floated?”
Zinke responded, “Well, I’ll go back to, probably, Benjamin Franklin, the merchant should not pay the same as a candlemaker. And even Teddy Roosevelt said, the more you make, the more you have an obligation to pay to protect the system that allowed you the opportunity to make more money. So, I am good at the higher rates, as long as we have an incentive to make money. We’re not a socialist country. But we have to look at it. And the corporate tax rate is not in play because that’s already in law. The provisions we’re facing are things like the small business deductions, research and development, deductions for married and single, the death tax if you have a small farm out there. If we don’t correct it, then we’re going to lose every farm and ranch in Montana, because you just don’t have the money to recapitalize. There’s a lot in there for the middle class.”
He added, “I do think you go back to the principles, is the more you make, the more obligation you should pay, as long as there’s not — as long as you keep the incentive to make money, to do good, to provide. And the wealth in this country, it’s there.”
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