President Says Construction Workers Pay Higher Tax Rate Than Those Earning $50M

In remarks in Cincinnati on Sept. 22, 2011, while promoting his American Jobs Act, President Barack Obama said, “A construction worker who’s making $50 or $60 grand a year shouldn’t be paying higher tax rates than the guy who’s making $50 million a year. And that’s how it’s working right now.  Because they get all these loopholes and tax breaks that you don’t get.”

According to PolitiFact, “it’s certainly possible that a given construction worker pays a higher effective tax rate than a given $50 million earner – but it’s also not a guarantee. There is a lot of variation for taxpayers in both categories – especially when you consider that we have been using average tax rates rather than median tax rates, which means that a small number of very high incomes can throw off the average.”

Obama claims the American Jobs Act would put people back to work rebuilding America by repairing our roads, bridges and schools.

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