Chuck Schumer Thinks Only Republicans Hate Paying Taxes
The Senate minority leader mocked anti-tax, anti-government views held by most Americans.
If you're looking for a capsule summary of the Democratic Party's woes since losing the White House and both houses of Congress in the 2024 elections, consider Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D–N.Y.) recent appearance on ABC's The View. In a particularly cringe-worthy performance, he mocked Republicans as tools of rich elites who resent taxes and government meddling in their business. The problem, of course, is that most Americans think tax collectors are too grabby and want to keep government officials at arms length. And a majority of the wealthiest Americans vote Democratic. That disconnect between what Schumer thinks is good TV and the real world around him explains many of his party's problems.
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The Party of the Rich?
"The Republican Party is a different kettle of fish than it used to be and that's why we're fighting them so hard," Schumer told the credulous hosts of The View, which I watched to spare you the chore. "They are controlled by a small group of wealthy, greedy people."
This is what Democrats have claimed about Republicans for longer than I've been alive, so I'm not sure what's supposed to have changed in Schumer's assessment. But it's a silly accusation for a Democrat to throw around. Even before the 2024 election, Pew Research reported that according to voter registration, the Republican Party was the preferred party of middle income and upper-middle income voters. Lower-income, lower middle, and upper-income voter registration favored Democrats. Last year's election results emphasized the political divide.
"The Democratic party now appears to be the party of high-income voters, not those with low incomes," a Financial Times analysis revealed after votes were counted.
So, Schumer had that wrong. But he also sounded a false note when he tried to channel what his supposedly awful political opponents believe about politics and government.
"'I made my money all by myself. How dare your government take my money from me. I don't want to pay taxes,'" he said in a grating voice intended to mock "wealthy, greedy" Republicans. "'I built my company with my bare hands, how dare your government tell me how I should treat my customers.'"
Well, OK. If Schumer wants to fight his political battles under the banner of taxes and intrusive government, we can, maybe, give him credit for defending what he believes in. But I hope that Schumer—who has held elected office since leaving law school in 1974 and has never worked in the private sector—doesn't expect too many Americans to rally to his flag.
The Views Schumer Mocks Are Pretty Popular
Last year, two-thirds of Americans told A.P.-NORC pollsters that they think federal income taxes are too high. Even larger majorities said the same of states sales and local property taxes. According to Gallup, that's consistently been the majority opinion for decades except for a few brief periods, including one just before the pandemic.
Again, except for brief periods around the COVID-19 pandemic and back in 2001, a majority of Americans (55 percent in 2024) say year after year that "the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses," according to Gallup.
In 2024, Pew Research noted that a majority of Americans (51 percent) prefer "a smaller government providing fewer services" over "a bigger government providing more services."
Chuck Schumer picked a lonely hill to die on. But he's not entirely alone. In making fun of the people in his head for believing they made their money and built their businesses by themselves, Schumer echoes some of the clunkier comments of his fellow Democrats from years past.
Democrats Have a Problem Leaving People Alone
While there's some disagreement about whether then-President Barack Obama's infamous 2012 "you didn't build that" line referred to the businesses people create or the infrastructure on which they rely for their businesses, it's obvious he was dismissing claims of being self-made. "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help," he insisted on his way to arguing that people who have built prosperous businesses should pay more to the government "because we do things together."
Even clearer was then-Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren in 2011 huffing, "there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there—good for you! But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for."
The mythology here is not just that everything is a collective endeavor, but also that government represents that collective and is therefore owed whatever it wants to claim from those who have built and prospered. The first point mistakes building on voluntary cooperation and trade in a society for some sort of hijacking of others' achievements. The second point is even more arguable, since it leaps to the conclusion that government and its officials have any claim to speak for the people who engaged in all that trade and cooperative activity.
Voters Heard Democrats' Message and Rejected It
"They hate government," Schumer marveled about his imagined opponents, in closing that particularly painful View segment. "Government's a barrier to people to stop them from doing things. They want to destroy it."
This may be the closest Schumer came to accuracy, given the majority's view of taxes and the role of government. As polls and the outcome of the 2024 elections demonstrate, Schumer and his party are on the losing side of these issues.
None of this means that Republicans are the perfect vehicle for lowering taxes, reducing government, and letting people build and prosper by their own efforts. The tariffs the Trump administration wields like a favorite toy are taxes. The FCC's attacks on opposition media aren't exactly a restraint of state power. And the modern GOP often seems too willing to coerce individuals and businesses to its own ends.
But Republicans won on a program that touted reining in D.C. after years of a big-spending, highly meddlesome Democratic administration. Former President Joe Biden and his allies championed a large, intrusive state that attempted to manage the economy and imposed behind-the-scenes censorship on critics of government policy. In November, voters made it clear they weren't buying what Democrats have been selling.
If Chuck Schumer wants to make fun of people who dislike taxes and intrusive government, he's unlikely to win back Americans who have heard it all before and rejected that message when they had the chance.
