Michele Bachmann gets it wrong on taxes

Tax rates will go up in 2011 unless Congress acts to extend the current rates. Members are talking about voting on the matter before the end of the year.

Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America that she was willing to accept a compromise as long as all the current tax rates stayed the same for taxpayers of all incomes.

“Well, remember again what this is. It’s a massive tax increase, and it’s on the people who are the job creators,” Bachmann said. “And people want to think that these are millionaires, sitting in leather chairs, lighting their cigars with $100 bills. That’s not what we’re talking about. These are people who, who are carpet layers who maybe employ two or three other guys, or a plumber, maybe himself and his brother, and it’s $250,000 in gross sales for their business. They’re the ones that are looking at massive tax increases.”

That’s probably a compelling narrative for Bachmann — big government taxes the little guys. But it’s not true. We explained why it’s wrong in our fact-check and rated her statement Pants on Fire!

This is our 13th fact-check of Bachmann; you can review them all in the Michele Bachmann’s PolitiFact file.