Nick Hanauer Quotes

The Clinton administration cared a lot about the middle class and the poor. But it also cared a lot - too much, in retrospect - about the rich.

The tax relief that this Congress has given now in terms of four tax cuts has overwhelmingly gone to the people at the very top of the income scale in America.

The rich aren't like us—they pay less taxes.

I suspect the Left's obsession with raising tax rates is not about helping the poor or middle class or about lowering the budget deficit, but about tearing down the rich.

Bush is giving the rich a tax cut instead of putting that cut in the pockets of working people.

Bush already gave obscene tax breaks to people like me and Warren Buffet, and we are saying it's not fair.

Our tax system rewards wealth more than it does work.

Everyone wants the rich to pay more in taxes.

Even tax breaks that are supposed to help the middle class too often skew toward the wealthy. Consider the mortgage interest deduction. While political leaders in both parties have long considered it untouchable, it actually helps those at the top of the income scale far more than those at the bottom.

Sadly, this is the same old Republican story of Robin Hood in reverse - tax cuts for the rich while programs for average and low income Americans suffer.

I think that something is fundamentally wrong if a person of his great wealth is only paying 13.9 percent effective tax rate and most of Americans are paying 28, 30 percent and they make far less.

I don't know how anyone can keep a straight face and say they are for deficit reduction while they insist on a permanent tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, completely unpaid for.

When you say fiscal responsibility, it seems to me that you really mean rich people keeping their money.

Why don't we go all the way and simple take the rich off the tax rolls altogether?

While lawmakers should eschew soaking the rich, that is no excuse for soaking the poor.

Income splitting benefits only fifteen per cent, mostly the wealthiest Canadians, but it's paid for by everyone.

The Obama economy is great for rich people. It's terrible for everybody else.

If corporations and rich people who made fortunes out of us during the boom are not paying their fair share then reform the tax system and close down the tax havens.

The rich have grown richer, but their tax rate has declined. The poor have grown poorer, but their taxes have increased.

If you look at the Forbes 400, they are paying a lower rate, accounting payroll taxes, than their secretary or - whomever around their office.

Spreading the wealth punishes success while setting America on course for a greater dependency on government.

Programs aimed strictly at the poorest Americans are always and forever under assault from a Republican Party that still has not dared to cut spending on programs - like Medicare and crop insurance - that also benefit the rich.

The United States tax system today is very prejudiced towards financialization, leverage, and lack of investment.

The rich pay more in total taxes now than ever before - ever. It's true. Just like it's true that when the rich are convinced they're going to be taxed more, they spend less. And when the top few percenters don't spend, there goes all your spending, because they account for half of all retail spending.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.