On the heels of a messy withdrawal in Afghanistan that appears more like a surrender to the Taliban and a weak August jobs report, the Biden administration is asking the few remaining moderate Democrats to pass Sen. Bernie Sanders’ multitrillion-dollar, tax-and-spend package upon their return to Congress from the August recess.
President Biden and congressional Democrats are proposing a radical, socialist economic plan that would drastically reduce opportunity for families across the country. In addition to threatening the American Dream, these policies could contribute to a global macroeconomic spiral and leave the U.S. without the fiscal tools to lead the way back.
If passed, the record spending of COVID-19 relief, green energy plans under the guise of “infrastructure,” and the Sanders wish list would add up to $12 trillion of taxpayer money above the annual $4 trillion budget; $12 trillion is really hard to comprehend, but it would equate to sending $100,000 to every one of the roughly 120 million family units in America.
The economic results of the 2017 tax reform have been a resounding success, resulting in 5.3 million new jobs in just over two years. The job gains spurred by tax reform had an immediate and positive impact on working Americans from across the socioeconomic spectrum. The unemployment rate fell dramatically to 3.5% — the lowest in 50 years. As a result of the hiring boon, African American and Hispanic unemployment fell to the lowest levels in history. Medium income in America reached an all-time high of $68,703 one year after tax relief was enacted.
Back in August 2017, the passage of tax reform was far from a guarantee. Three Republican senators had betrayed their promise to voters to repeal and replace Obamacare and joined with Democrats to preserve this historic government intrusion into personal health care. Many observers thought President Trump’s tax agenda was about to stall.
But the White House and Congress listened to the demands of the American people. They passed generational relief that cut taxes for American families and reduced the U.S. corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. The latter change lowered the United States’ business tax rate from the highest in the industrialized world to a level that now sits squarely in the middle of other OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] nations.
The economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is difficult to overstate — and with inflation heating up and reaching levels not seen in decades, the last thing American families and small businesses need is to be crushed with the largest tax increase in American history.
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