During an interview with “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, former “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe criticized 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’ proposed tax plan. Rowe also shared his proverbial two cents on the current state of the economy in this country.
Mike Rowe On Bernie Sanders’ Tax Plan
While promoting his new book “The Way I Heard It” on Fox News, Rowe talked about Sanders’ proposed 97 percent tax rate on the 400 richest Americans.
“It’s a free country — ideas, float them, fly them, run it up the old flag pole and see who salutes. In the end, you’ve got millionaires arguing with millionaires over who hates the millionaires the most,” Rowe lamented.
To make his point, Rowe told a story about former President Ronald Reagan’s acting career.
“One of the stories they tell [at the Reagan ranch] is the time when Ronald Reagan just finally decided he was done doing movies,” Rowe said.
“He was just done because he was paying 92 percent of every dollar he made on films. It was just math. He wasn’t done acting. He just looked at it and did some basic calculus and said, ‘Not for me anymore. Makes no sense to do this.’”
California Mass Exodus Over High State Tax
Fox host Ainsley Earhardt then wondered if the wealthy would stop working if his with a similar economic reality.
Rowe, in turn, recounted a story about his own home state of California known for it’s high taxes.
“I live in California. I just read a report that said the exodus this year, as a result of a 13.5 percent state tax and some other tweaks to the system is unlike anything they’ve ever seen,” he said.
Rowe continued, “I know it’s convenient — it’s fun to hate the rich and all. But in the end, they’re just people and they’re going to do the math and they’re going to go where the math is better.”
Host Brian Kilmeade responded by questioning if free money is doing damage to people’s self esteem.
“You can’t ignore the human condition. We’re fundamentally lazy people. We have to be taught, I think, to not be lazy,” Rowe replied.
“I’m just saying that if you give me a choice — and I don’t see myself as lazy — but if you give me a choice of the easy way or the hard way, I can’t help it. I’m going to default to the easy way. Free money? I want it. My biggest concern with that kind of arguing is… once you say okay, free money, the next question has to be, ‘Why not more?’”
Mike Rowe’s Inspiration Behind ‘The Way I Heard It’
While appearing on the show, Rowe also talked about what inspired him to write “The Way I Heard It”, now available on Amazon.
“The book… started as a collection of stories I write for my podcast,” he explained.
“My mother read them and said, ‘These are very nice but it’s a rather lazy approach to writing, don’t you think? Publishing something you’ve already read.’ In between each story about a famous person I’ve never met but I’m intrigued by, I tell a story of my own misspent youth. The book goes between autobiography and biography. It’s a memoir interrupted by some nonfiction stories about some famous people I wish I knew a little better.”
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As usual, Rowe hit the nail on the head with his critique of Sanders’ tax plan. Rowe is a true class act with a good head on his shoulders; if only we had more people in the entertainment world like him.
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