"Did he really say that" was the rallying cry across social media after Republican Senator Chuck Grassley placed his foot directly in his mouth over the weekend as he commented on tax reform impacts on Americans…
While defending the GOP's plan to scrap so-called ‘death taxes’ on individual estates, Grassley promulgated his most elitist, 'them-and-us'-bias-reinforcing attitude yet when he seems to take a shot at the 'deplorables' who backed his party's leader into The White House by suggesting that the tax plan won’t affect those busy "spending every darn penny .., on booze or women."
Grassley made his comments during an interview with the Des Moines Register at the weekend, in which he praised those who are investing as opposed to those (read working class people) who aren’t.
“I think not having the estate tax recognizes the people that are investing – as opposed to those that are just spending every darn penny they have, whether it’s on booze or women or movies,” Grassley told the publication.
Grassley’s comments were derided on social media, where many perceived the seven-term senator’s remarks to be an attack on the 'deplorable' working class…
You forgot those that are "spending every darn penny" on raising their kids and giving them a decent education.
— Patricia Farrell (@drpatfarrell) December 3, 2017
http://pic.twitter.com/JwZWVnW1bg
— Gracie St. Ives (@roguecats7) December 3, 2017
Sorry, gotta go, like Senator Chuck Grassley said, I've gotta go waste all my money on booze, women and Netflix movies so I won't become a millionaire.
— chaplinlives (@chaplinlives) December 4, 2017
Of course, having let something slip and suffering the backlash from it, Grassley was quick to issue a 'clarification' – a la ABC News – that his comments were taken out of context, saying he meant that the government shouldn't punish investment.
“My point regarding the estate tax, which has been taken out of context, is that the government shouldn’t seize the fruits of someone’s lifetime of labor after they die,” Grassley said in a statement.
“The question is one of basic fairness, and working to create a tax code that doesn’t penalize frugality, saving and investment," he said.
The estate tax, often derided as the “death tax,” is a 40 percent tax on the wealth of a person after he or she dies.
Too late Mr. Grassley, the truth is out.
via http://ift.tt/2iPnj3d Tyler Durden