I’m a supporter of neither Scott Walker (an anti-market crony capitalist) nor Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (an anti-market socialist), but a Twitter exchange between them was notable for being so one-sided: Cortez engaged and out-played Walker. In this post, I’ll analyze the exchange. Wholly apart from their politics, it’s obvious that Ocasio-Cortez is a talented communicator, while Walker … isn’t.
Explaining tax rates before Reagan to 5th graders: “Imagine if you did chores for your grandma and she gave you $10. When you got home, your parents took $7 from you.” The students said: “That’s not fair!” Even 5th graders get it.
Ocasio-Cortez’s reply to Walker:
Explaining marginal taxes to a far-right former Governor:
Imagine if you did chores for abuela & she gave you $10. When you got home, you got to keep it, because it’s only $10.
Then we taxed the billionaire in town because he’s making tons of money underpaying the townspeople.
Walker’s Counter-Reply (hours later):
REALITY CHECK: When the federal government raised taxes on the “wealthy” in the 90s, revenues missed projections & people lost family-supporting jobs. Not very progressive…
A few remarks:
Marginal Rates. Ocasio-Cortez has a plan (to which I am opposed) to tax to a marginal rate of 70%. (A marginal rate of 70% does not mean one’s whole income is taxed at 70% – only the amount over a specified threshold would be taxed at 70%.) Walker either doesn’t understand the concept or deliberately distorts her proposal (or any marginal rate proposal) in his tweet.
Before Reagan. Walker links a better approach to a time before Reagan, presumably for ideological purposes. I doubt Reagan, himself, would describe arguments against high marginal rates that way. The better approach would be to speak historically: “across centuries, the experience of productive societies is that…” Walker’s too narrow.
Abuela. Walker writes of grandma, but Ocasio-Cortez replies with abuela. Very clever. Ocasio-Cortez turns the story from middle America to a constituency that’s working class and significantly Latino (she represents a congressional district covering the Bronx). Walker speaks one language, but Ocasio-Cortez reminds that she speaks (at least) two.
Shifting the Terrain. Ocasio-Cortez replies cleverly to Walker not with a debunking of his error (or lie) about how marginal rates work, but by focusing on her political point that “[i]magine if you did chores for abuela & she gave you $10. When you got home, you got to keep it, because it’s only $10.” She emphasizes lower taxes for low-wage earners, using the small dollar figures in his tweet to emphasize workers’ struggles.
But she’s not done with him – she hits him with a soak-the-rich argument that most people will find (sadly) convincing: “Then we taxed the billionaire in town because he’s making tons of money underpaying the townspeople.” (See what she did there? She implies that some private parties owe some of their money to other townspeople.)
Walker’s Counter-Reply. Walker thinks the problem with high marginal rates is that government lost revenue? No, the responsive counter-reply is that high rates (marginal or flat) drain money from the private economy. Even funnier, Walker later retweeted his own ghostwriter to come to his defense on marginal rates. That’s a failure, too, as Mark Theissen’s tweet doesn’t rehabilitate on the merits Walker’s misunderstanding (or lie) about how marginal rates work.
What a Mess. Walker is a dull writer, seemingly lacks the ability to expect (so pre-empt) counter-arguments, in his counter-reply drops a key argument in favor of a canned one, and unavailingly relies on retweeting his own ghostwriter to try to save himself.
Assessment (as tweeted yesterday).
Holy Cow, @ScottWalker was in office for *decades* and yet @AOC still shreds him. Don’t agree with her politics, but agree with him even less. Scott, buddy, time to (1) quit Twitter, (2) find a desperate college that will take you, and (3) learn something.