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Graham Platner: “We tax wages at a higher rate than we tax wealth.”

Featuring: Graham Platner, Populist, Progressive | Former Candidate, U.S. Senate Maine

Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers

Published June 1, 2026 | Video Starts at 10:50

We have in our power to have a tax code that doesn't for right now, as we have right now, We tax wages at a higher rate than we tax wealth. That's a math equation you can run to the end and see who wins out. None of this is actually all that complicated. (10:50–10:55)

CLAIM

Asserts that the current tax system taxes wages at a higher rate than wealth.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Graham Platner

“We spent, it looks like in the end it's going to be somewhere around $8 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for nothing.”
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“Pete Hegseth is literally using the US Military to make up for the fact that he's insecure about his own military service.”
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“Re empowering organized labor is going to be one of the keys to building the power necessary to really take back our democracy from…”
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“Historically, organized labor has always really been the kind of foundation of any kind of real movement politics that is able to advocate…”
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“The Democratic Party should be the party of labor unions, should be the party of community organizations, should be the party of civil…”
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“Polling at the moment and has been for quite some time [reflects that working people do not see the Democratic Party as a party for them].”
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“There are many people who talk about the Democratic Party as it once was, a party that used to represent labor unions, used to represent…”
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“I have served my country multiple combat tours.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 06:08-06:12
“Building a small business, growing food in the ocean for my community.”
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“We don't sell an oyster outside of a 25 mile radius.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 07:07-07:10
“We live in the outcome of policy policies that have been implemented really for the last 40 years by establishment politicians at the behest…”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 11:46-11:59
“I love the idea of raising taxes immensely on the high on billionaires and their wealth.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 13:23-13:30
“There's a proposal which I think is a really good one, which is that we should never tax someone into poverty.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 13:48-13:54
“We should also still raise taxes on billionaires and corporations.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 14:04-14:10
“We're raising it on all 930 billionaires in the United States.”
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“We have to go after the wealth as well.”
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“Winning the Senate seat back from Susan Collins is just the beginning.”
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“She's been there for 30 years.”
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“The campaigns that have generally been run against Susan Collins have been Directed from Washington D.C.”
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“Susan Collins has been there for 30 years. And in those 30 years, everything got harder down here.”
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“She has been in charge for 30 years, and she has overseen a system that has brought us to the brink of collapse.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 19:54-20:01
“Susan Collins has not represented the people of Maine.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 23:06-23:10
“We are seeing our healthcare system collapse in the state [of Maine].”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 23:10-23:14
“I reenlist in the United States Army. I got screened for gang and hate tattoos.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 24:39-24:45
“I worked for the State Department. I had a top secret clearance.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 24:44-24:48
“I was on the ambassador to Afghanistan's security team, where I was screened for gang and hate tattoos.”
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“Private equity is allowed to buy up single family homes in this country.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 30:59-31:03
“Their health care is a mess because it is structured right now to prioritize profit over providing healthcare.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 31:08-31:16
“Any road to a blue Senate pretty much goes through the state of Maine.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 31:48-31:53
“There are very few paths available if we don't beat Susan Collins.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 31:52-31:57
“We did just beat the Democratic establishment and we did it with a candidate that nobody had ever heard of before August of last year.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 33:00-33:10
“Blocking every bit of funding possible. We shouldn't send a single dollar for any of this nonsense.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 34:52-34:58
“Congress has abdicated its constitutional responsibility around war making.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 38:35-38:40
“He was a National Guard major. I mean, no shade to the National Guard at all. I was in the National Guard. But his combat record doesn't…”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 39:27-39:38
“It's a war. And the reason I say it's the same kind of war is that it is the outcome of politicians who think war is flippant.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 40:12-40:23
“The Bush administration got to enrich a lot of other people, got to kind of use the sort of the post 911 feel of patriotism to go start that…”
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“Everyone's like, oh, we're almost to a peace deal in which we reopen the Straits of Hormuz. And it's like, oh, you mean what we had before…”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 41:40-41:50
“I really want to work on in the Senate is building an army of social workers for the VA to go out into this country and find every single…”
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“I think I filed my first claim in 2013, and it wasn't until the early 2000 and twenties that the VA finally gave me my final rating.”
Will Maine voters extend 'forgiveness' to another Graham Platner controversy? | Newsmakers | Uploaded June 1, 2026 | 43:45-43:57
“I want to expand the VA's ability to find veterans who are suffering and get them the benefits that they earned.”
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“We need to end partisan gerrymandering.”
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“We need to get money out of politics.”
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“If I have my way, elections will be publicly funded and they will last two months.”
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“Other countries do this.”
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