Not all in this together
In one of the rarer cases of President Joe Biden pushing an agenda item that he actually discussed on the campaign trail, he’s preparing to roll out a bunch of tax increases that he wants the Democrats to push through congress. Chief among these is a significant increase in the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. This would supposedly be an example of making employers “pay their fair share” and the revenue would go toward paying for Biden’s massive infrastructure proposal along with the rest of his staggering tax-and-spend plans. But if he thought the plan was just going to sail through smoothly, he may have overestimated the existing support for such a measure. The Wall Street Journal reports this week that a number of House Democrats are already getting cold feet and looking for different ways to finance their ambitions. (Subscription required) President Biden’s proposed tax increases on corporations as part of a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan have drawn a skeptical reaction from some Democrats, who instead favor borrowing money to pay for the investments or raising other levies, like the gasoline tax, to do so. The proposal would raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% and increase taxes on companies’ foreign earnings. The White House said the tax increases would, over 15 years, cover the cost of the $2.3 trillion package, which puts money toward improving roads, bridges, and transit systems, along with expanding broadband access and myriad other efforts. Republicans have widely rejected Mr. Biden’s proposed tax increases, but some Democrats are raising their own questions about the plan.
