The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board went after former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) over his “tax the rich” proposal in a New York Times opinion piece.
“The rich who favor higher taxes pitch this as an act of civic virtue. But paying higher taxes on income or capital gains is no great sacrifice for them because they’re already rich. Mr. Romney made his fortune at Bain Capital, and good for him,” the editorial board wrote in their piece published Sunday.
“He can afford to pay more now, but would the 28-year-old Mitt still on the make have thought so? Raising taxes makes it harder for others to get rich,” the opinion piece continued.
Romney argued in his Times opinion piece published Friday that “it’s time for rich people like me to pay more” taxes prior to the Social Security benefits cut estimated in nine years.
The former Republican presidential candidate said that political ads from when he ran in 2012 claimed his policy ideas were going to push “grandma off a cliff.”
“Today, all of us, including our grandmas, truly are headed for a cliff: If, as projected, the Social Security Trust Fund runs out in the 2034 fiscal year, benefits will be cut by about 23 percent,” Romney wrote. “The government will need trillions of dollars to make up the shortfall.”
“And on the tax front,” he added later, “it’s time for rich people like me to pay more.”
Romney’s comments are notable for a Republican, with party members often pushing for lower taxes. However, he has been known to buck his party in recent years, including by voting to convict President Trump for inciting the attack at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Billionaires like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are able to shelter their wealth behind tax loopholes like creating foundations,” the Journal’s editorial board wrote in their piece. “Higher income-tax rates matter less to them that they do the salaried couple who finally feel they made enough for retirement after 30 years of the daily grind.”
The Hill has reached out to Romney for comment.