Ben Stein on Fox News: 'Taxes Are Too Low'

"I guess he couldn't lie anymore. The truth must have weighed very heavily on economist Ben Stein when he veered from the usual script over at Fox News and committed "conservative heresy" by admitting that taxes must be raised on America's wealthy.
"I hate to say this on Fox-- and I hope I'll be able to leave here alive—but I don't think there is any way we can cut spending enough to make a meaningful difference. We're going to have to raise taxes on very rich people, people with income like say $2-3 million a year and up and then slowly move it down," said Stein. His co-hosts almost had massive coronaries on air.

All hell must have broken loose behind the scenes after that statement, for the collective conservative doctrine, of which Fox heavily subscribes to, is that the rich do not have to pay a penny more in taxes to help close the huge deficit gap. Kind of "they built it so they should keep it" BS.

The Republicans' fuzzy math is still in full effect, even if the US economy shows the devastation caused partly by the financial crisis and a bloated budget, which includes more than 10 years of the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy. Moreover as numerous economists haves said, cutting entitlements alone cannot fix the deficit; revenue needs to be raised as well."* Cenk Uygur breaks it down, explaining why conservative Ben Stein is right, and why he'll probably not be asked on 'Fox and Friends' again.

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[phasedreality]

My respect for Ben Stein, which was zero up to this point, has gone up. That was absolutely awesome what he said. He is COMPLETELY right and more people in the media need to be saying it.

[MrVirtualGuitarist]

In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

[AzMomma]

Truth on Fox "News"?!?! I never thought that would happen. Thank you Ben Stien for speaking the truth.

[pbmdh]

That's why you cut spending AND raise taxes. It's a balanced approach that brings the debt down without destorying everything we have built.

[robinhoodOO]

PLUS, that is only one aspect of encouraging demand, and doesn't apply to businesses.

[UnexpectedWonder]

Truth will always come out eventually.

[thewhat]

I remember seeing that guy in Casper hahaha

[dangerouslytalented]

The reason why the marginal tax rate was set so high in the past, was to discourage executives from paying themselves inhuman amounts of money, and keep it in their companies instead, hiring people and purchasing equipment instead, which puts the money back into the economy. Such a high tax rate is not actually paid by anybody, because they are not stupid enough to pay themselves such absurd amounts when taxes on such amounts are so high.

[wiz]

I'm a conservative, and I agree with Ben Stein. Taxes should be raised on the richest 1%. We also need to cut spending. If you taxed the richest 1% at the level Obama has proposed, we would still have a deficit of more than $1 trillion. Therefore, a combination of the two is required. Ending the earned income credit would be a good start. Does it make sense that some Americans get more money back than they pay in?

[MojoGuitarPlayer]

Who doesn't know that we have to cut spending and raise taxes? Those hosts were dumbfounded.

[TMMx]

How many times do Republicans have to be told this?

[DonBarracuda]

CUT IF OFF! CUT IT OFF! CUT IT OFF!
...Sorry America

[JimCoder]

Ben Stein warned about the economy tanking about a year or so before it happened. He was warning viewers to pay down their debt and build up their savings before it was too late. He seemed very grim and confident about his prediction.

[Thursdayam]

"The parasite hates three things: free markets, free will and free men."

--Andrew Ryan

[MoTheG]

*That is so deep that one must quote it.*

[JesseMaurais]

I used to be certain about everything he said, but now that I've heard Ben Stein say it, I just don't know any more.

[MasauFuku]

"That might be the last time you see Ben Stein on Fox News"

That'll probably also be the last (and only) time I see Ben Stein tell the truth.

[TBTabby]

Well done, Mr. Stein. You have regained a modicum of the respect you lost after Expelled.

[MrVirtualGuitarist]

Powerful quote, but the whole point of it was to show how lack of empathy and worship of the self can lead to a moral and civil decline.

[HeyImDiO]

He's right - taxes must be raised on the very wealthy, but everyone else should get an extension of the Bush tax cuts.