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The candidates are tackling health care, immigration, race issues, taxes and the economy.
Former Vice President Joe Biden said, “(Undocumented immigrants) in fact contribute to the well-being of the country, but they also for example increase the lifespan of social security. Because they have a job, they’re paying a social security tax. That’s what they’re doing. It’s increased the lifespan.”
Facts First: This is true.
-Lydia DePillis
Amazon’s taxes
Andrew Yang claimed that Amazon pays “literally zero in taxes.” “Oh, so, it’s difficult to do if you have companies like Amazon, trillion-dollar tech companies paying literally zero in taxes while they’re closing 30% of our stores.”
Facts First: When it comes to taxes, the picture is more complicated than Yang claims. Amazon pays state taxes and has also paid federal taxes in the past.
“From 2012 through 2018, Amazon reported $25.4 billion in pretax US income and current federal tax provisions totaling $1.9 billion,” the Journal reported. “That is an 8% tax rate — low, but not zero or negative. Looking back further, since 2002, Amazon has earned $27.7 billion in global pretax profits and paid $3.6 billion in global cash income taxes, a 13% tax rate.”
Analysts say Amazon was able to whittle down its tax liability by taking advantage of tax credits and deductions.
-Brian Fung
Tax benefits
Bernie Sanders claimed “83% of your tax benefits go to the 1%.”
Facts First: This is incorrect. For the 2018 tax year, the top 1% was estimated to have received 20.5% of the benefits from the tax cuts, according to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center.
Some estimates say that if certain tax cuts are not reapproved by Congress after they sunset in 2027, 83% of the benefits would go to the top 1%.
-Holmes Lybrand
Trump’s tax bill
California Sen. Kamala Harris claimed that the tax bill signed by President Donald Trump benefits major corporations and will contribute at least $1 trillion to the US debt.
Facts First: This is true. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the 2017 tax act would add some $1.9 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.
-Maegan Vazquez and Holmes Lybrand
America’s wealth gap
Sen. Bernie Sanders blasted the rich for taking advantage of America, saying that three people own more wealth than the bottom half of the nation.
Facts First: It’s true that the three richest Americans have more wealth than the bottom half of the nation, according to a 2017 study by the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies.
The institute used data from the 2017 Forbes 400 list and the Federal Reserve’s 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances.
-Tami Luhby
US homeless population
In calling for change, Bernie Sanders said, “500,000 people are sleeping out on the streets today.”
Facts First: Sanders is basically correct here. While the number of people experiencing homelessness fluctuates in the United States, the most recent government tally lines up with Sanders’ claim.
-Lydia DePillis
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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