WashPost: Ocasio-Cortez's 70 Percent Tax Rate More Conservative Than Ike's

A new analysis claims that the 70 percent marginal tax rate proposal touted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is not as radical in an historical sense as people think.

The Washington Post crunched the numbers and looked at past marginal tax rates dating back to 1913 and found that a 70 percent tax on income above a certain level — Ocasio-Cortez has called for the tax to kick in after an individual makes more than $10 million — isn't as high as other marginal rates have been.

Under Presidents Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, and Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, the marginal rate on income over $4 million and $5 million was above 90 percent. President John F. Kennedy slashed the marginal rate down to 70 percent, and President Ronald Reagan lowered it to 50 percent and then to 28 percent.

Based on the fact that an individual must make at least $10 million for the proposed marginal tax rate kicks in, Ocasio-Cortez's idea doesn't seem so radical, the Post concluded.

"The United States today ranks 39th in the world in terms of the top marginal tax rate but marginal tax rates such as 70 percent largely are a thing of the past. The top rate in Britain is now 45 percent. Even Sweden and Denmark have rates of 56 percent and 57 percent, respectively," Glenn Kessler wrote in the Post.

"In other words, in today's context, Ocasio-Cortez's rate of 70 percent would appear outside the norm. But in historical context, it would not be out of line at all. It would be Back to the Future."

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