During an appearance on Federalist Radio Tuesday, Forbes Inc. CEO Steve Forbes said, while most the Republican tax plans are taking a step in the right direction, he thinks Ben Carson’s is the best of the crop.
Forbes, who ran twice for the Republican presidential nomination, once in 1996 and once in 2000, said he favors a flat tax plan.
“The one that is the cleanest one so far has come from Dr. Ben Carson, who introduced a clean flat tax about two or three weeks ago,” he said. “I’m sorry it came so late in the campaign, he got it more right than the others.”
The conservative media mogul also praised Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s plans – but was not a fan of their inclusion of the value-added tax (VAT), which Forbes described as a tax that isn’t applied to the final product.
Forbes said, while it doesn’t concern him with a conservative in office, he believes a Democratic president would use it as a “money machine” where people will think it is “companies, not the government ripping them off.”
The businessman said if GOP candidates want to accomplish anything, they need to stop compromising on their economic policies.
“One of the things Republicans, or anyone, has to learn is don’t negotiate with yourself, put something pure out there,” he said. “If you start giving concessions and start watering down what you want to do, you’re not going to have much left when you get through the sausage factory in Washington.”
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