Raising taxes will destroy jobs

By Marc Short

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.

Last week, on an entirely partisan vote, House Democrats joined their counterparts in the Senate to approve the Biden-Sanders-Pelosi budget plan that will usher in massive tax increases. The budget paves the way for more than $3 trillion in tax hikes on small businesses, family farms, corporations and individuals — including those making less than $400,000. Gallingly, it even includes a new corporate minimum tax imposed on U.S. companies to appease socialist European leaders. Fortunately, Democratic majorities and these job-destroying tax hikes can be stopped if only a handful of Democrats stand up for hard-working American families.

At this critical moment in American economic history, it is almost inconceivable that Mr. Biden wants to burden employers and workers with massive tax increases.

Today, Americans from all walks of life are cautiously optimistic that our nation is on the precipice of another great recovery. The Biden plan would destroy that recovery.

At a time when America is facing a historic labor shortage and record-breaking deficits, Democrats are advocating for policies that compel Americans to stay home from work while exacerbating our entitlement crisis. These policies are antithetical to the principles that have made the United States the freest and most prosperous nation in history.

Little more than a decade ago, when Nancy Pelosi was last House speaker, she marched her colleagues off a cliff of votes on massive “stimulus” spending, Obamacare, and cap-and-trade legislation before voters elected 63 new House Republicans in the midterm election of 2010. Will her Democrat colleagues blindly march off the cliff again? Or will a few stand up for American families and stop this insanity?

• Marc Short was the Legislative Affairs Director for President Trump when he successfully passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.