WSJ: Rick Perry’s Support for a Flat Tax Cheers Steve Forbes

[flpoljunkie]

OCTOBER 19, 2011, 8:06 PM ET
Rick Perry’s Support for a Flat Tax Cheers Steve Forbes

Rick Perry’s embrace of a flat tax makes the tough-talking Texas governor the unlikely political heir to Steve Forbes, the nerdy publisher and erstwhile presidential candidate.


Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media, Steve Forbes speaks during a press conference ahead of Forbes Global CEO Conference 2011 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Lai Seng Sin)

Mr. Forbes was characteristically exuberant on Wednesday.

“I’m very, very excited by it,” Mr. Forbes said in a telephone interview. “What Perry is proposing is a radical simplification of the income tax code….It’s finally coming to pass.”

Mr. Perry officially announced his support for the flat tax in a speech on Wednesday. Mr. Forbes, who ran in 1996 and 2000 and now is advising the Perry camp, said that the “concept remains the same” as his own flat tax plan from the 1990s. That plan included a $36,000 exemption for a family of four and a 17% flat rate on income above that level. It also would have eliminated taxes on personal savings and capital gains in order to encourage investment.

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[HughBeaumont]

1. Well, yeah. Idle silver spoon Ovarian Lottery winners like Forbes benefit the most.

:think:

[JoePhilly]

2. Then it must be a terrible plan.