When asked to provide more specifics on his tax plan, and how high he was willing to raise the government’s burden on the people, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) promised Americans that he would not tax them at a 90 percent rate during the Democratic primary debate Saturday night.
"We haven’t come up with an exact number yet, but it will not be as high as the number under Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was 90 percent," Sanders said. "I’m not that much of a socialist compared to Eisenhower."
CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes responded to Sanders saying, "I know that people hope so."
Paying for domestic social programs became a major issue during the debate. All three Democrats answered they plan on increasing taxes so the government could provide more entitlements to Americans.
"We pay for this by demanding that the wealthiest people and largest corporations, who have gotten away with murder for years, start paying their fair share," Sanders said.
Sanders said he wanted to redistribute wealth in America back towards the middle class. He accused the rich of stashing money in the Cayman Islands to avoid regulation. The Vermont senator derided corporations he claimed paid zero federal income taxes because of loopholes riddled within the system.
"We bailed out Wall Street. It's their time to bail out the middle class, help our kids to go to college tuition free," Sanders said.
Sanders asserted that billionaires today pay a lower effective tax rate than nurses and truck drivers.
"There has to be real tax reform, and the wealthiest and large corporations will pay," Sanders said.