Senator Mike Lee On Hugh Hewitt Show

[Valin]

Hugh Hewitt Show:

Duane Patterson

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

 

Audio

 

(Snip)

 

HH: All right, let’s start with Lee-Rubio, which is the name of the tax plan which I think is going to become as famous as Kemp-Roth, or Roth-Kemp, however you want to call it. Tell us what Lee-Rubio is, and does that tip your hand in the presidential race?

 

ML: It does not tip my hand in the presidential race. You know, probably my three closest friends in the Senate, or at least three of my very closest friends in the Senate are Cruz, Rubio and Paul, all appear to be gearing up to run for president. And so no, that is not intended as a tip of the hand. But what it does is just simplify the tax code, and do it in a way that would promote economic growth, and promote freedom in America, that would take our current complicated tax code that occupies tens of thousands of pages together with its implementing regulations and consolidate it into a simplified two rate system, under which 80% of all Americans would pay under one simplified rate of 15%.

 

HH: How do you get to that? And you keep deductions, right?

 

ML: We keep deductions for charitable contributions and mortgage interest.

 

HH: And so mortgage, those are two of my big three. The state income tax deduction is the third of my big three, so tell me what happens to people who live in a state like California where they’re charging us 13% income tax and sales taxes and all that other stuff. They’re just, they have to live with the consequences of their bad government choices?

 

ML: And they should take that up with their state legislators and make sure that the state isn’t overtaxing them. But one way or another, it shouldn’t be Washington encouraging that kind of behavior. It shouldn’t be Washington promoting that kind of heavy tax burden from the state level. And so we think it’s appropriate for the accountability for that decision to be borne by state legislators and not federal lawmakers.

 

(Snip)