Ben Carson Proposes Bible-Inspired Tax Plan

By Alison Lesley --
12 May 2015 --

Ben Carson appeared on Fox News describing his flat-tax plan which he admits was inspired by the biblical concept of tithing.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has begun his newly-launched bid for the White House with a controversial tax plan. Dr. Carson is proposing a flat-tax plan of about 10% inspired by biblical tithing – giving one-tenth of one’s income annually to God through church. He told Fox News Sunday that he got the idea from the Bible.

Critics say Carson’s plan would give a massive tax relief for the wealthiest Americans while simultaneously hurting poor people. The candidate himself praises his proposal as “pretty darn fair” and thinks it’s condescending to assume that poor people could not pay.

Chris Wallace of Fox News criticized Ben Carson’s tithing plan as unrealistic. “According to the Tax Policy Center, to raise the same amount of revenue we do now, the tax rate would have to be in the low to mid 20 percent range. Low and middle income families would get a big tax hike while wealthy families would actually get a big tax cut.”

While Dr. Ben Carson at the moment has a considerably small chance in the Republican primaries, his plan of a single, proportional tax could gain support among conservative Christians and any Americans of the general public who are frustrated with the current complex tax system. Carson argues that his plan would end tax system loopholes and make it difficult to raise taxes.

Dr. Ben Carson is popular among the conservative Tea Party movement. He presents himself as a non-politician problem solver. Carson notably gave remarks at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, in which he openly criticized president Barack Obama for his health care reform while Obama himself was present.

Dr. Carson is a retired neurosurgeon, who grew up in a low-income family in Detroit. He is famous for being the first known surgeon who separated conjoined twins joined at the head successfully. He has also written six bestselling books for the Christian audience. For two years he has also been a weekly columnist for the Washington Times.

Six Republicans have so far formally announced their candidacies in the upcoming presidential race. Besides Dr. Carson the current contenders include Senator Ted Cruz, former CEO Carly Fiorina, former governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, Senator Rand Paul, and Senator Marco Rubio.