On Wednesday’s episode of “The Andrew Klavan Show,” Klavan talks about Joe Biden’s weird debate answer about raising the capital gains tax. Video and partial transcript below:
So the MSM narrative about this debate is “Biden’s Falling, Warren’s Rising.” So everybody turned on Warren, and everybody was mean to Warren. It’s her turn in the barrel, and the media judges are kind of trying to decide: Warren is the best, but who else is good? They’re saying maybe Joe Biden won, or maybe Amy Klobuchar [won] …
But I have a completely different take on what happened. I thought the whole thing was just embarrassing. Maybe I’m so against socialist ideas — maybe life is so prejudiced against socialist ideas — that I can’t see [how] people are going to fall for this … These people just look like they are sinking into the floor. Let me just show you this clip of Joe Biden’s tax plan as he talks about why he’s going to raise taxes on the rich.
BIDEN: What I’ve talked about is how you get things done. And the way to get things done is, take a look at the tax code right now. The idea [is that] we have to start rewarding work, not just wealth. I would eliminate the capital gains tax — I would raise the capital gains tax to the highest rate of 39.5%. I would double it because, guess what? Why in God’s name should someone who’s clipping coupons in the stock market make, in fact, pay a lower tax rate than someone who in fact, is, like I said, a schoolteacher and a firefighter? It’s ridiculous, and they pay a lower tax.
Huh? What the [expletive] did he just say? I mean, that’s their candidate? That’s their tied-for-the-leading-guy candidate? It’s absurd. He’s fixing his dentures all the time, it’s incredible. The guy makes no sense.
Basically, he says — I think what he said — was he wanted to double the capital gains tax. Remember, the capital gains tax is a double tax. This is money that you already made and already get taxed, and then you take that money and you invest it in somebody else’s business. What does that do? It creates jobs, it creates wealth, it creates new businesses. It does all that stuff. And so if it works — you risk your money — [and] if it works, you get a profit. And then they tax you again, they already tax[ed] that money. There shouldn’t be any capital gains tax. It’s ridiculous.
Whenever they tell you that corporations don’t get taxed, everybody in the corporation gets taxed, and then they get taxed again for capital gains.
How does that help the economy? So what are you going to do? They’re going to tax your investments. You don’t have to do that, go out and buy a boat. And then he says, well, look at him, he’s got a yacht, he’s not contributing anything to society. Well, you would be contributing to society if they hadn’t taken your money away. So you’re going to protect it. You’re going to take it away from them, take it away from these things — the work that it is doing for the country — and use it for yourself so you won’t get taxed on it. It’s just dumb, it is absolutely dumb.
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