Romney's 15 Percent Problem is a Republican Problem
Rich Republican candidates who pay very low tax rates have a political problem that Democrats don't have: They want to keep those rates for themselves and people like them.
There is a policy rationale behind the idea, of course -- that these are the people who create jobs, so you don't want to discourage that by making them give the government more of their money. Wealthy Democrats, by contrast, often talk about raising their own taxes in the name of fairness. It doesn't make them any less wealthy, but it puts them in line with public opinion (two-thirds favor raising taxes on the rich) and it may help them seem more in touch with daily economic realities.
There is a policy rationale behind the idea, of course -- that these are the people who create jobs, so you don't want to discourage that by making them give the government more of their money. Wealthy Democrats, by contrast, often talk about raising their own taxes in the name of fairness. It doesn't make them any less wealthy, but it puts them in line with public opinion (two-thirds favor raising taxes on the rich) and it may help them seem more in touch with daily economic realities.
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