Democrats have undertaken many activities and all for the sake of appeasing the voters and for virtue signalling. As if the Biden administration’s COVID-19 stimulus checks were a big spending decision, the Democrats are lining up for another large budget bill, that is, the infrastructure bill, which in the infra garb is AOC’s Green New Deal. Now, to sustain this $2 trillion green infrastructure bill, the Biden administration is about to increase taxes greatly.
At a time, when the wealth creators and large companies are needed to bring the country out of the economic downturn due to COVID-19, taxing these very people and hurting these very industrial behemoths is the absurdity of the worst kind.
The US Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, and other business lobbies say that they strongly oppose raising the corporate income tax rate to 28% from 21% to pay for the $2.25 trillion infrastructure plan that Biden is unveiling on Wednesday. They want to see a user-fee model for raising money for improvements.
“We strongly oppose the general tax increases proposed by the administration, which will slow the economic recovery and make the US less competitive globally — the exact opposite of the goals of the infrastructure plan,” Neil Bradley, executive vice president and chief policy officer of the US Chamber, said in a statement.
The Chamber plans to have its member companies engage directly with lawmakers to provide real-life examples of what an increase in the corporate tax rate would mean for their firms, such as not opening a new manufacturing facility, according to a person familiar with its plans.
The bill includes $650 billion for infrastructure projects likes roads and bridges, $400 billion for home care for the elderly and disabled, $300 billion for affordable housing, $300 billion for manufacturing, $180 billion for research and development, and $100 billion each for the nation’s waterways, the electric grid, high-speed broadband, and job retraining.
The bill intends to make a drastic green push. And in the efforts to replace fossil fuels with green sources like solar and wind, they are intending to increase the taxes on fossil fuels. It is expected that by making people move towards greener alternatives, an example being electric vehicles, the US may be able to phase out fossil fuels. The USA is a net exporter of oil, and at a time of economic downturn, phasing out fossil fuels, increasing taxes on the related industries will be a reckless move. It will hurt the economy even further, and make the life of people who have less economic cushion to transition to more greener alternatives miserable.
According to Michael Hanson of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, raising the corporate tax rate for all businesses does not seem to be the answer because too many companies are currently paying little to no corporate income tax, while others pay full freight. In his statement, he also added that closing tax loopholes or re-instituting some form of a minimum corporate tax is a better approach.
A higher corporate tax rate would result in higher energy rates and lower salaries for jobs as businesses pass on the costs. According to spokesman John Kartch, it would also affect small companies grouped as enterprises at the worst possible moment after the coronavirus pandemic.