Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) tried to joke about Democratic support of a 70 percent tax rate for wealthy Americans by using the NFL as a hypothetical, but as many people quickly pointed out, his joke doesn't take into account how the sport works.
Crenshaw, a veteran and newcomer to Congress who entered the national spotlight after accepting the apology of a Saturday Night Live actor who mocked him last year, asked his Twitter followers if the New England Patriots—who won last night's Super Bowl—should be levied a "70% tax" so that "NFL competition is more fair and equal?"
The 70 percent marginal tax rate on extremely wealthy Americans was floated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) earlier this year during a 60 Minutes interview.
"Should someone propose a 70% tax on the Patriots so that NFL competition is more fair and equal? Asking for a friend," Crenshaw wrote on Twitter.
Should someone propose a 70% tax on the Patriots so that NFL competition is more fair and equal? Asking for a friend.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 4, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez even fired back at her fellow lawmaker.
"The average NFL salary is $2.1 million, so most players would never experience a 70% rate. The owners who refuse to hire Kaepernick would, though," she wrote.
The average NFL salary is $2.1 million, so most players would never experience a 70% rate.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 4, 2019
The owners who refuse to hire Kaepernick would, though. https://t.co/AnST2lCiU9
Ocasio-Cortez wasn't the only one with a response.
Many people pointed out to the Texas lawmaker that the Patriots are subject to a number of factors that, are for Crenshaw's joke's purposes, essentially a tax on their historic success.
The NFL has a salary cap for all of its teams, revenue sharing, and the team that wins the Super Bowl, like the Patriots, are given the last pick in the next NFL draft—allowing teams that are less successful the ability to (hypothetically) choose better young talent to try and rebuild their teams.
The NFL has revenue sharing, a salary cap (and team spending floors), and a player entry draft designed to reward the weakest teams. That's socialism, not capitalism. https://t.co/Hfz0Dt9Lvj
— Adam Bonin (@adambonin.bsky.social) (@adambonin) February 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/jonbernhardt/status/1092421076376784896
https://twitter.com/jtylerconway/status/1092414384394113024
https://twitter.com/nicktachy/status/1092422762843521024
https://twitter.com/CubX3/status/1092433251954614273
https://twitter.com/knicks148/status/1092429163556945920
Salary caps? Draft picks? Revenue sharing? Do these people care about knowledge at all? I don't even watch NFL anymore and know that they have systems in place to ensure a more competitive league structure. Daft Pol. https://t.co/tv4hLuroqo
— Add your name (@satumma) February 4, 2019
And yet, with these socialist policies, success is still possible, an argument conservatives think is true.
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