I'm John Bachelor. I welcome Veronique DiRugee of the Mercatus Center, George Mason University,

to take us by the hand and lead us through the Valley of the Miss of Tax Day, 2026.

Veronique, it's wonderful to have them all together because you have the opportunity to believe

them or not all over again. All right, the first myth, which could actually be a proverb if you are looking at

it from another direction, the rich do not pay their fair share, and that's wrong. They should pay

their fair share. Myth or proverb. Good evening to you. Good evening, John. Well, it's a myth.

I guess we can have a philosophical debate over what fair means, but kind of

something that everyone would actually understand is that if you make a certain amount of

a share of the income, you should pay at least that amount in taxes, right? And the top 1% makes 22% of the

income, and it pays 40% of taxes. So I think they pay their fair share this way. And in fact, I mean, there is something

that most people don't understand is that we have the most progressive federal system,

income tax system in the world. So it actually, it is known. It is a fact that is known by

academics and by people who follow the tax literature that actually the American system is

extremely progressive, which means that the top people pay the most taxes and not just

in value, but relatively to others.

All right.

Another idea here.

We'll fix the budget.

We worry about the gap all the time.

All we have to do is tax the rich.

Myth or proverb?

No, it's a myth.

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