Posted by JM Ashby
The very serious Tim Pawlenty, a possible presidential contender who is currently making the rounds to pander to the Tea Party, continues to display his staggering level of dumbstupid.
Thinkprogress caught up with the former governor at the Tea Party Patriots Policy Summit in Phoenix, AZ and asked him what he thought about Bank of America paying no income taxes.
FANG: Governor, today liberals are demonstrating all over the country in what CBS has called a liberal version of the Tea Party. Their main complaint is that a lot of corporations aren’t paying their fair share. For example, Bank of America, in 2009 paid nothing in corporate income taxes, same with ExxonMobil, GE, and a lot of other big corporations. Do you think corporations like Bank of America should pay their fair share? What are your thoughts on that?
PAWLENTY: Well actually the corporate tax rate in Minnesota and around the country is too high. And I think one thing we could and should do is–
FANG: You think zero is too high with Bank of America paying nothing?
PAWLENTY: We have the highest corporate tax rate, or one of them, in the world
American businesses just can't handle our high taxes! That's what they want you to believe anyway. Corporate profits are currently at record levels.
Via Nicole