US Senator: 'I Don't Know a Single Small Business' That Will Be Affected 'By Tax Rates

"We don't have a tax problem in this country, we have a revenue problem."

So was the message on a panel entitled '98 to 2: Raising Taxes to Invest in America and Promote Fairness' that took place in Washington last month. The panel was made up of progressive researchers and politicians all waxing poetic over the best way to sell tax increases to the American people.

In the exclusive clip below, a question is asked from the audience concerning creating a liberal "counter narrative" to the effective conservative ideal that "taxing the rich kills jobs and hurts small business."

"The Republicans are very effective at using the 'taxing the rich kills the job creators, it kills small business who creates lots of jobs,' and she's asking where is the push-back from our side?  Why don't we have our own effective counter narrative to that?"

Guy D. Molyneux, a panelist and partner with Hart Research, answered by lamented liberals loosing the messaging war over the "tax issue" and suggested that "most people" don't but the idea that the rich create jobs.

"Republican argument really is not persuasive to most voters.  They do not buy the idea that most people who make over $250K are quote 'job creators,' unquote."

Molyneux continued to discuss his views on the American public and taxation:

"They do not buy the idea that it's going to have a substantially negative impact on the economy to raise taxes on people at that level...there is a certain superficial plausibility to the idea that higher taxes is more likely to be bad than good for the economy, and it takes time to explain why that's not necessarily true in this case."

Molyneux made a final point in closing, noting that the rich get "goodies" in our society and that Republicans can't compete with an argument against "fairness."

"It is overdue for the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes, and as a country we simply cannot afford to keep handing out new goodies to the richest people in our society.  That is a much better point for us to be arguing, and for them to try -- because Republicans really have no answer to that."

Democratic Senator Whitehouse from Rhode Island chimed in, adding that he did not know a "single small business" that would be effected by tax rates:

"What works well for me at home, I don't have this, you know, poll-tested...I say, look I don't know a single small business in Rhode Island that is going to be made or broken by tax rates.  What's going to make or break small business is whether people are actually coming through the door to spend money, whether they have customers."

The panel was a part of the greater Take Back The American Dream Conference in association with Van Jones. This conference

Watch The Astonishing Remarks Below: