The idea of a flat tax may be in vogue these days among conservatives, but Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is not on board.
“Reagan didn’t have one tax rate,” Bachmann said in an interview the ABC News “Subway Series with Jonathan Karl.” “The principles that I’m borrowing from are Reagan’s.”
What Bachmann wants, she says, is a flatter tax – fewer tax brackets and lower rates, but not the kind of single-rate flat tax proposed, in various forms, by Herman Cain, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich.
“What my plan is to abolish the tax code and bring those rates down,” Bachmann said. “There will more information forthcoming but right now what I’m talking about are the principles. The principles are those that have worked.”
How many brackets? What tax rates? She won’t say – at least not yet.
The lack of details creates some confusion about just what exactly Bachmann is proposing. Shortly after pointing out that Reagan’s tax plan included multiple rates – and was therefore not a flat tax – Bachmann described her plan as “a flat tax on the order of Ronald Reagan.”
We’ll have to wait until Bachmann releases the specifics of her economic plan to find what that means. She promises those details will come soon. Meanwhile, she suggests that Rick Perry, who released a fairly detailed flat tax plan on Monday, has taken ideas from Bachmann.
“Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. And so we’re grateful,” Bachmann said. “The ideas that I’ve been espousing – again lower the taxes rates, flatten it, make it far more simple, far less complex, but also make it so that the average American can fill out their taxes on a postcard – I’ve been talking about this for months. These are all good ideas and if other candidates want to come and take these ideas out of my plan they’re more than happy to take them.”
When Bachmann announced her intention to run for president earlier this year, she said she would not run for re-election to the House of Representatives.
Asked directly if she would still categorically rule out running for Congress if she fails to win the Republican presidential nomination, Bachmann did not offer a definitive answer.
“I serve the sweetest people in the United States. Wonderful people,” Bachmann said. “I am so grateful that they have appreciated my service and allowed me to be able to represent them in Washington. Now what I want to do is take that voice that I took to the House of Congress and take it into the White House where it hasn’t been heard for a very long time.”
But does she rule out running again for Congress?
“What I’m doing is focusing on the presidency. Very seriously I am 100 percent focused on the presidency.”
{ABC News/Matzav.com Newscenter}
