Omar said taxes had been as high as 90 per cent before and could be once more

By George Martin

• Omar said taxes had been as high as 90 per cent before and could be once more 

• It comes after freshman congresswoman Cortez called for a 70 per cent tax 

• The tax reforms being proposed will fund several radical new policy initiatives 

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar has called for an income tax of up to 90 per cent on America’s multimillionaires.

Speaking to ’60 Minutes’, Omar argued that tax rates of previous years had risen to the 90 per cent mark for top earners as she doubled down on fellow freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s calls for a 70 per cent rate.

‘There are a few things that we can do,’ Rep. Omar said.

‘One of them, is that we can increase the taxes that people are paying who are the extremely wealthy in our communities. So, 70 percent, 80 percent, we’ve had it as high as 90 percent. So, that’s a place we can start.’ 

The one percent must pay their fair share,’ she continued.

Omar claimed her radical tax plan would act as a catalyst for programs like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal being proposed by Ocasio-Cortez.

Ocasio-Cortez called for zero carbon emissions within 12 years, in an interview with ’60 Minutes’ on her first day as a member of Congress.

Omar also said she wants to slash the national defense budget in order to pay for the sweeping policy changes.

‘I’m also one that really looks at the defense budget that we have, Rep. Omar said.

‘That has increased nearly 50% since 9/11. And so, most of the money that we have in there is much more than with we spend on education, on healthcare.’ 

In 1960, before the Kennedy tax cuts, the top rate was 91 per cent for those earning more than $200,000. According to the Tax Policy Center, the top 1 per cent earned 9 per cent of all income at that time, compared to 20 per cent in 2008.

‘You look at our tax rates back in the ’60s and when you have a progressive tax rate system your tax rate, you know, let’s say, from zero to $75,000 may be ten percent or 15 per cent,’ she said, in a clip that aired on CBS ‘This Morning.’ 

‘But once you get to, like, the tippy tops – on your 10 millionth dollar – sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 or 70 percent,’ she said.

‘That doesn’t mean all $10 million are taxed at an extremely high rate, but it means that as you climb up this ladder you should be contributing more.’ 

I think that it only has ever been radicals that have changed this country. Abraham Lincoln made the radical decision to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.

‘Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the radical decision to embark on establishing programs like Social Security. That is radical,’ she said.

President Trump took a swipe at Cortez immediately after she proposed the tax hike, saying a 70 per cent rate would bring the turmoil of Venezuela to the US.

“We’re looking at Venezuela, it’s a very sad situation,” Trump told reporters.

“That was the richest state in all of that area, that’s a big beautiful area, and by far the richest – and now it’s one of the poorest places in the world. That’s what socialism gets you, when they want to raise your taxes to 70 percent.”