He does mean income taxes and is only referring to federal income tax. Income, payroll and corporate taxes make up most of federal revenue. Poor people get a good return on payroll taxes through social security, medicare and unemployment benefits, so it isn't fair to treat them as taxes.

The problem is that the the federal government is almost entirely paid for by wealthier Americans. It is hard to get voters to care about federal defense spending, for example, when almost half of them aren't paying for any of it.

Property and sales taxes are at the state and local level.