‘The fake Indian wants to raise your taxes, but she doesn’t want to pay anything extra herself, except in election years…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) For most people—even in the taxation mecca of Massachusetts—a 5.1 percent income tax is more than plenty.
But just in case an members of the Kennedy clan decide to open up their trust funds for the public good, the commonwealth makes it possible to pay at a higher 5.85 percent rate.
After years of paying the lower rate on her annual household income—which has been exceeded a million dollars in most years since she became a U.S. senator in 2012, Warren, it seems, has finally found a heart.
Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr reports that on her 2017 returns, Warren finally checked box 22, authorizing the payment of the higher rate. In doing so, she joins roughly 900 Massachusetts taxpayers (out of a total exceeding 2 million) who voluntarily give their ‘surplus’ earnings to the government.
Carr reached out to Warren’s re-election campaign to ask, why now–and received back the following response:
“While Republicans chose to shovel $1.5 trillion in giveaways to giant corporations and billionaires, Sen. Warren decided to make a charitable contribution to the state of Massachusetts. She supported the millionaire’s tax ballot initiative to make this higher tax rate permanent. She believes the wealthiest should pay their fair share in taxes.”
In short, Warren seems to be crediting the GOP tax cuts for finally inspiring her to pay her fair share to Massachusetts, which she refers to as a ‘charitable contribution’ (but is it deductible?).
However, Carr suggested a more plausible theory—politics.
“The fake Indian wants to raise your taxes, but she doesn’t want to pay anything extra herself, except in election years,” Carr said.
Not only is Warren up for election in 2018 (with a warchest of about $15.5 million that far outstrips her two challengers, she is a safe lock to keep her seat), but she also has eyed the 2020 presidential race.
As the left and its media partners already have laid the stage for making President Donald Trump’s taxes a major talking point, it makes a lot of sense that she would want to get her own house in order.