The Patriot Post® · Who's Up for Paying Higher Taxes?
As President Joe Biden and President-in-Waiting Kamala Harris embark on a tour of the country to inform us all just how popular their $1.9 trillion Not-COVID Relief legislation really is, there are rumors swirling that the bill for that bill is coming due. That’s right — stay tuned for the biggest tax hike in three decades.
Of course, we warned during the campaign that Biden-Harris intended to “roll back” the Republican tax cuts of 2017, so this isn’t unexpected. And technically, the tax hike isn’t being floated to pay for the pandemic bill; it’s for more spending coming down the pike.
Bloomberg broke the story: “Unlike the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 stimulus act, the next initiative, which is expected to be even bigger, won’t rely just on government debt as a funding source.” Tax hikes would hit the higher brackets as well as the corporate rate, likely raising it to 28% from 21% — making corporate taxes 33% higher than they are now. (Many news stories are getting this wrong and saying it’s only a 7% increase.) Remember too that many small businesses pay the highest individual rate, which would likely rise back to nearly 40%.
It’s never a great time to jack up tax rates, but nothing says “reopen the economy after a pandemic” like telling businesses “here’s your bigger tax bill.” One might almost begin to think this is an orchestrated economic disaster.
This also isn’t just about revenue, as if somehow Democrats have suddenly found religion on balancing the budget. After all, even liberal projections expect only $2.1 trillion in additional revenue over 10 years, which wouldn’t even cover the deficit this year. Moreover, that revenue claim is based on the errant assumption that a massive tax hike on businesses won’t change economic behavior.
“For the Biden administration,” adds Bloomberg, “the planned changes are an opportunity not just to fund key initiatives like infrastructure, climate and expanded help for poorer Americans, but also to address what Democrats argue are inequities in the tax system itself [emphasis added].”
Fact-check: The tax system is definitely inequitable, by design. Contrary to Democrat talking points about a “fair share,” high earners already pay the vast majority of taxes.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen won’t rule out Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax, either. “President Biden during the campaign proposed a higher tax rate on corporations, on individuals and on payments, capital gains and dividend payments that are received,” she said, “and those are alternatives that address — that are similar in their impact to a wealth tax.” Yellen also said a wealth tax is “something that we haven’t decided yet and can look at.”
Democrats hope to sow division by stoking envy as a way to increase the popularity of paying for all the spending they’ve done. Unfortunately, it’ll work with millions of Americans, because Democrats have willing propagandists in the Leftmedia. But make no mistake: Tax hikes always hurt economic growth. It’s just a matter of how well the economy can cope with a blow like that while it’s trying to regain footing after the pandemic.