Oh, the irony!
New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer believes Olympic and Paralympic athletes should not be taxed on winning medals. The longtime politician says that athletes work very hard all year long and that they shouldn’t be hit with a large tax bill for their efforts.
Here is a statement from the New York Senator:
“Our Olympian and Paralympic athletes should be worried about breaking world records, not breaking the bank, when they earn a medal. Most countries subsidize their athletes; the very least we can do is make sure our athletes don’t get hit with a tax bill for winning. After a successful and hard fought victory, it’s just not right for the U.S. to welcome these athletes home with a tax on that victory. We worked hard to pass a bill that would exempt athletes from these tax penalties in the Senate, and now I’m hopeful that this bill will earn strong bipartisan support in the House and quickly become law.”
For years, Schumer has been in favor of taxing rich, hard-working Americans who have spent much of their time reaching the very top of their industries. But now he is against taxing rich, hard-working Americans who have spent much of their time reaching the very top of their industry.
Why would he want to tax one group of hard-working Americans and eliminate a tax on another group of hard-working Americans?
People like him have said for so long that paying taxes is “patriotic.” So wouldn’t Olympic athletes also believe that paying taxes is the patriotic thing to do? It just reeks of both irony and publicity-seeking. Schumer knows this will land him in the newspapers, on televisions and all over social media with praise. It’s all just for attention.
Hey, at least we can see a politician condemn a tax and refer to it as a penalty for once.
Moreover, according to Mark Perry of the American Enterprise Institute, there was “medal inequality” in 2012 and likely this year, too.
“There was a significant amount of “medal inequality” for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London (see CD post here) and I predict an equal amount of “medal inequality” this year. Just like it’s not fair that the Olympians’ hard work and effort be penalized with income taxes, the inevitable and significant amount of “medal inequality” is probably also not so fair. Perhaps Sen. Schumer could address that unfairness and inequality with some type of legislation that would “redistribute” the Olympic medals to achieve greater fairness?”
Here is a clip from the press conference:
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