Ben Shapiro, who's been inexplicably paid to opine since he was 17, is famous for excruciatingly bad takes. Just yesterday, he was "explaining" that Joe Biden wasn't a real Catholic because of his abortion policies. And the night before, he was reacting to President Biden's speech to the nation. Via Media Matters:

"When he says that rich people don't pay their fair share in this country, that is just an abject disgusting lie. It is a lie. The top ten percent of income earners in this country pay all net taxes. Not some of the taxes, all of the net taxes - because net taxes are defined as what you pay into the government, minus what you get back from the government," he said. (I can't stand to hear Shapiro speak -- he sounds like a cartoon chipmunk.)

This is a common misleading position beloved by conservatives, especially wingnut yakkers like Ben whose net worth is estimated at $25 million. Poor people are heavily taxed, because almost all of their income goes to purchases -- which are taxed. User taxes aren't progressive. And payroll taxes? Another heavy hit.

Co-host Jeremy Boering, whose brand is "Hollywood conservative," was probably traumatized by his peers for his last name and is determined to be anything but, follows the same defective reasoning. (His net worth is estimated at a mere $1.1 million. How many directors/screenwriters/producers are only worth a million? Bitter much, Jeremy?)

"The people who don't pay their fair share in this country are the poor. We need to raise taxes on the poor. I'm not joking. I'm not joking. The poor in this country pay zero. The lower middle class in this country pay net zero. So we have a group of people who pay no taxes, a group of people who pay no net taxes, a group of people who pay all the net taxes, and his argument is that it's category three who don't pay their fair share. Fair share means your percentage of taxes. We've determined that there are some people who shouldn't pay any percent of taxes. The only fair taxing system is one in which everyone pays," he claimed.

I think he means that he doesn't make enough money to live like Ben, and it's eating him up inside.

I'm sure these pompous wingnutters will be surprised to find that when all taxes are included (not just federal income tax), poor people pay almost as much as the rich, but then will get right to work "proving" it can't possibly be true.

But they're trying so hard to find something they can sling at Joe Biden that sticks.