Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Scott Walker duke it out on Twitter over marginal tax rates
WASHINGTON -- Freshman congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and longtime Wisconsin politician Scott Walker certainly don't share the same political views, and the heat between the right-wing and the left-wing politicians came to a boil on Twitter Tuesday, Jan. 15.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has made headlines for suggesting marginal tax rates, receiving praise from her loyal followers and harsh criticism from many conservatives. Walker took to Twitter to offer a critique of Ocasio-Cortez's proposed plan -- a 70% tax on those who make over $10 million per year.
Walker's tweet read:
Explaining tax rates before Reagan to 5th graders: “Imagine if you did chores for your grandma and she gave you $10. When you got home, your parents took $7 from you.” The students said: “That’s not fair!” Even 5th graders get it.
Ocasio-Cortez fired back within hours, tweeting:
Explaining marginal taxes to a far-right former Governor: Imagine if you did chores for abuela & she gave you $10. When you got home, you got to keep it, because it’s only $10. Then we taxed the billionaire in town because he’s making tons of money underpaying the townspeople.
Walker followed up with a second tweet aimed at Ocasio-Cortez, targeting her democratic-socialist views:
Imagine thinking socialism works. It doesn’t. It’s failed time and time again. We need to send less of our hard-earned dollars to Washington, not more. The American people know how to spend their money better than out of touch politicians and bureaucrats do.
Walker continued the exchange with a third tweet, this time not directly aimed at Ocasio-Cortez.
Last time the federal government had a 70% tax rate, Jimmy Carter told the country that we had a crisis in confidence and that we were in a malaise.
A fourth tweet was posted around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. This time, Walker was directly targeting Ocasio-Cortez's earlier tweet:
REALITY CHECK: When the federal government raised taxes on the “wealthy” in the 90s, revenues missed projections & people lost family-supporting jobs. Not very progressive...
Tuesday's exchange was not the first time Walker has jabbed Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter. After Ocasio-Cortez's Jan. 7 interview with Anderson Cooper went viral, Walker was quick to denounce the "Democrats' latest star's" far-left-leaning views, focusing particularly on the proposed marginal tax rates. Walker has been notably more active on Twitter since leaving the governor's office earlier this month.