Tim Pawlenty delivered a combative speech today in which he called for massive changes in the tax code and accused Barack Obama of being a “champion practitioner of class warfare.” Pawlenty proposed a system with just two tax brackets, taxing the first $50,000 of income ($100,000 for married couples) at 10%, and all income above it at 25%, while eliminating the capital gains and estate taxes entirely, the Wall Street Journal reports. He also advocated a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, saying, “It will force decision makers to finally make decisions.”
Pawlenty also advocating eliminating a host of government programs, including the post office and Amtrak, CBS reports. “If you can find a service or a good available on Google or the Internet, then the federal government probably doesn’t need to be providing that service,” he said. And he made the aforementioned “class warfare” attack on Obama, saying he had “has spent three years dividing our nation, fanning the flames of class envy and resentment.” (More Tim Pawlenty stories.)