Donald Trump Opposes Rand Paul's Flat Tax

In July 2003, Fox News host Sean Hannity paid $3,450,000 for his beachfront mansion on over two acres of land in Huntington, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. Just like Bill O'Reilly, Fox News pays Sean Hannity very well. But it seems that the more they make, the more they both obsess over taxes — because they never think the rich are rich enough.

In a recent interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Donald Trump says he's against [Rand Paul's] "flat tax" — or the so-called "fair" or "consumption tax". Trump said that he believes that people who make more money should pay a higher graduated tax rate, saying "I actually believe that as people make more and more money, they can pay a higher percentage ... let's be honest."

And Trump also doesn't totally believe in the myth that "a rising tide lifts all boats." And Trump also doesn't agree with Rand Paul's plan to eliminate the IRS, saying: "Someone has to collect the money."

You can tell Sean Hannity was really pushing Trump really hard to say "lower taxes" — and Trump complied, but said by reducing deductions [loopholes, not necessary rates]. Trump was more or less emphasizing that the tax code should be more simple and less complicated so that average Americans don't have to go to H&R Block.

Then, not liking Trump's answers, Sean Hannity changed the subject to energy. (Video of the segment on taxes below, full interview here — where he also says some of his hedge fund friends pays "peanuts" for taxes.)

And speaking of Rand Paul: A Senate subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders, held a hearing on the “human toll and budget consequences” of senior hunger. Panelists shared tales of woe from older Americans unable to get enough food, and urged increased funding for nutrition programs. But Rand Paul touted the “nobility of private charity” as opposed to government-funded “transfer programs.” He suggested privatizing Meals on Wheels and other government assistance for hungry seniors. [Via Fox News, August 13, 2015: Food banks struggle to meet greater demand — so, how far can charity go to solve the problem of hunger?]

While monitoring Fox News this morning, here's some other tid-bits I heard...

1) On Bernie Sanders: It may be just my imagination but, it appears that Fox News gives more frequent and more positive coverage to Bernie Sanders — more so than does CNN and MSNBC. Of course, the reason is probably because, besides just disliking Hillary Clinton, Fox News also believes their GOP candidates have a better chance of beating Sanders than Clinton in 2016 (because he's a "socialist"). Although, from the polls I saw, Bernie has the better chance. Remember when Karl Rove on Fox News had predicted a landslide for Romney in 2012?

But the Fox News coverage might help Bernie, because I've noticed that they point out a lot of positive things about him that CNN and MSNBC neglects to emphasize as often, such has Hillary stealing Bernie's (and Liz Warren's) ideas; and his great poll ratings and large crowds. The reason I suspect is, CNN and MSNBC would prefer to play down Bernie's popularity because they prefer Hillary to win in 2016 because she wouldn't raise their taxes, whereas Bernie would (But regardless, in reality, neither one could raise their taxes with the current Congress we have. So Sean Hannity is safe.)

2) On the Minimum Wage: The argument is, the $15 minimum wage will have fast-food workers be replaced by automation. But a guest on Fox News said these companies would have done that anyway, because they will do anything to save money, and that they have never cared about the workers in the first place.

3) On Social Security: One talking head on Fox News said: "We're taking out more than were putting in." They say it's because people are living longer (true, the rich are living longer) and a lot more people are falsely claiming disabilities (not true, and awards have actually declined). As it was previously pointed out by Dean Baker, the real reason is that wages for the past 35 years have been stagnant (not rising in proportion to higher profits), so less money is being paid into the trust fund — and why the "cap" should be raised or eliminated for Social Security taxes (which is exactly what Bernie Sanders wants to do...besides just raising the minimum wage.)