Bezos Calls to Eliminate Federal Income Taxes for Bottom Earners

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos called for eliminating federal income taxes for the bottom half of earners in the United States during a televised interview on Wednesday. He argued that the current system places an undue burden on lower-income workers while doing little to address the nation's fiscal challenges.

Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Bezos repeatedly invoked the example of a nurse in Queens, New York, earning $75,000 a year. He stated that such a worker pays over $1,000 monthly in federal income taxes, money he said would be better spent on rent or groceries. "We shouldn't be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology," Bezos said.

The billionaire executive chairman cited data indicating the bottom half of taxpayers pay only about three percent of all federal income tax revenue, while the top one percent pay roughly 40 percent. "I don't think it should be three percent, I think it should be zero," he stated. He characterized the U.S. tax system as already the most progressive in the world and argued the country has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Bezos also addressed calls for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy, a...