Obama Supports Marco Rubio's "Stop Taxing Olympians" Stand

Marco Rubio introduced the the Olympic Tax Elimination Act, which aims to end the taxing the winnings and medal value of Olympians, with a bit of old fashioned, conservative anti-tax zeal."Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

August 6, 2012

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Marco Rubio introduced the the Olympic Tax Elimination Act, which aims to end the taxing the winnings and medal value of Olympians, with a bit of old fashioned, conservative anti-tax zeal.

"Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness," Rubio said.

He won't be able to get much Left vs. Right play out of it though, since President Barack Obama has decided he likes Rubio's plan.

According to the AP, Obama's press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that the White House would do "everything we can to support our athletes." That includes supporting Rubio's bill.

"Athletes representing our nation overseas in the Olympics shouldn't have to worry about an extra tax bill waiting for them back home," said Carney.

Taxing Olympians was the conservative cause of the day last week when Americans for Tax Reform published an article saying that gold-medal winners could pay up to $8,986 in taxes. Gold winners receive a $25,000 honorarium, and the worth of a gold medal this year is about $675.

Rubio, ever in touch with the conservative base, jumped on it and introduced legislation to exempt Olympic winners from paying taxes on their prizes.

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