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Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Clinton Campaign Statement On Protecting Middle-Class Families from Tax Hikes

November 14, 2015

Today, the Clinton campaign released the following statement from National Press Secretary Brian Fallon:

"If you are truly concerned about raising incomes for middle-class families, the last thing you should do is cut their take-home pay right off the bat by raising their taxes. Yet Bernie Sanders has called for a roughly 9-percent tax hike on middle-class families just to cover his health care plan, and simple math dictates he'll need to tax workers even more to pay for the rest of his at least $18-20 trillion agenda. By contrast, Hillary Clinton believes strongly that middle class families deserve a raise, not a tax increase. She has proposed a bold, aggressive agenda, but when it comes to paying for it, she will make sure the wealthiest Americans finally start paying their fair share, not force the middle class to pay even more than they already do."

The Facts on Middle Class Taxes

According to the Washington Post, under Bernie Sanders' 2013 health care bill, "poor and middle-class taxpayers would have seen tax increases totaling nearly 9 percent."

Legislation introduced and supported by Sanders includes a new 6.7% payroll tax, (Sec. 811), and a new 2.2% income tax on individuals and families (Sec. 812).

  • S 1782 Added 2.2% Health Care Income Tax On Individual Incomes Under $200,000 Or Joint Incomes Under $250,000. ""(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a taxpayer not described in paragraph (2), the applicable amount with respect to any taxable year shall be determined in accordance with the following table: "If taxable income is: Not over $200,000 The applicable amount is: 2.2% of taxable income […] (2) JOINT RETURNS AND SURVIVING SPOUSES.—In the case of a joint return or a surviving spouse (as defined in section 2(a)), the applicable amount with respect to any taxable year shall be determined in accordance with the following table: "If taxable income is: Not over $250,000 The applicable amount is: 2.2% of taxable income." [S 1782, Sec 812]
  • S 1782 Imposed A Payroll Tax Of 6.7 Percent Of Wages On Employers. "(c) Health Care.—In addition to other taxes, there is hereby imposed on every employer an excise tax, with respect to having individuals in his employ, equal to 6.7 percent of the wages (as defined in section 3121(a)) paid by him with respect to employment (as defined in section 3121(b))." [S 1782, Sec 811]

Independent experts confirmed to the Washington Post that it is impossible to pay for Sanders' single-payer plan without raising taxes on middle-class households: "'I can confidently say we can't raise that much by taxing the rich,' said Len Burman, who directs the Tax Policy Center."

Austan Goolsbee, Former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, has said even further tax increases on the middle class would be necessary to pay for the rest of Sanders' proposals beyond single-payer healthcare: "On the non-health side, the Sanders proposals are well above the $3.3-$3.5 trillion mentioned in the [Wall Street Journal and Washington Post] articles. Realistically, his proposals are $5 trillion+ [beyond $15 trillion in health care spending]. At that size, you almost certainly need taxes on the middle class to pay for them."

Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Clinton Campaign Statement On Protecting Middle-Class Families from Tax Hikes Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/318746

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