NBC’s Katy Tur dismantled Republican Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) simply by asking him why the top 1% get 80% of the benefit from the Republican tax cut plan.
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Tur: Why do 80% of the benefits in the tax plan go to the top 1%?
Rep. Banks: Katy, that’s, end of the day, hogwash. Those are Democrat talks points that have been disputed over and over again. Doubling the standard deduction.
Tur: That’s tax policy center analysis. Not democratic talking poinr.
Rep. Banks: Not at all —
Tur: So that’s not from the tax policy center? Because it is.
Banks: Those might be. There are a number of statistics and studies that show that tax reform passed yesterday awaiting the president’s signature is a significant tax cut for the middle class for working class families in my district. Business, corporate tax rate cuts and the also small business rate cuts that mean small business my district will be able to create more good paying jobs. You’ll see wages rise. And more opportunities for hoosiers in my district to find good paying jobs. That’s good for everybody.
If you want to understand why there is no bipartisanship in our legislative process, look at Rep. Banks’ response when confronted with the objective fact that 80% of the benefits from the tax cuts go to the top 1%. Banks didn’t try to defend the cuts on economic terms. He didn’t try to justify them ideologically. Rep. Banks denied the facts.
The culture of factual denial that Republicans live in make it nearly impossible to get anything done in a bipartisan way. There can be no compromise without common agreement on facts.
Katy Tur destroyed a Republican Congressman and made him look like a fool by bringing up a fact, and until decide to leave their disreality bubble and join the rest of us, humiliations like this one will happen anytime one of the ventures outside beyond Fox News.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
