CNBC reports:
President Donald Trump should not impose a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans, media mogul and two-time GOP presidential candidate Steve Forbes told CNBC on Monday. Axios reported last month that top White House advisor Steve Bannon is pushing for a tax increase “on the wealthiest Americans to pay for steep middle and working-class tax cuts.”
“That kind of populism Ronald Reagan would have choked on,” the Forbes Media chairman and CEO said on “Squawk Box.” “What people want is a vibrant economy. They don’t care if Bill Gates gets richer. They want to know: ‘Is my paycheck going up? Are my prospects improving?'”
Axios said Trump’s chief strategist told colleagues he wants the highest income tax bracket to “have a 4 in front of it” and believes this is a “potent populist idea.” Today, the top bracket is 39.6 percent for single Americans who bring home $418,401 or more annually and for married individuals filing jointly who make $470,701 or more.
Forbes has a net worth of $430 million and sits on the board of the Koch brothers’ libertarian group FreedomWorks.