Rick Perry Wants To Widen the Income Gap

Rick Perry's proposed flat tax plan would, not surprisingly, provide large tax breaks for those in the highest income brackets. This is clear in an analysis provided by the New York Times Economix Blog. Here is the chart summarizing the effects on taxes paid by different income groups:

The last column on the right is the taxes paid or refund under the current system. The next column to the left is for Perry's 20 percent flat tax plan. The blue shaded figures are the most advantageous plan for each income group. For every household type, the highest income group fares best with the Perry plan.

What is most disturbing is Perry's answer when asked about the increase in income inequality that his tax plan would create: "I don't care about that." In other words, he isn't even going to go through the motions of pretending to care about poor and working-class families.