(RepublicanInformer.com)- On Wednesday, Democrats in the Senate unveiled a new proposal for the so-called billionaires’ tax.
It’s a completely new entry in the U.S. tax code that’s designed to partially pay for the expensive and progressive spending policy being put forth by President Joe Biden. Democratic Senators are hoping that this will push their party much closer to an agreement of the overall plan, which has been stalled in recent weeks amid divisions among the liberals.
The new tax would hit those Americans who have more than $1 billion in assets, or who have an income of more than $100 million per year. If the rest of the party in both the Senate and the House can come to agreement on this new tax plan, it could help seal the climate change and social services plan for Biden before he departs for global summits this week.
Combined with the new corporate minimum tax of 15%, the billionaires’ tax would give the Biden administration the alternative sources of revenue they were seeking to win over Arizona’s moderate Democratic Senator Krysten Sinema.
She had earlier rejected proposals to reverse tax breaks on the wealthy and corporations that were instituted under former President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday night, Biden met directly with Sinema and another moderate senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Pumping up the new billionaires’ tax proposal, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon, who serves as the Senate Finance Committee’s chair, said:
“No senator wants to stand up and say, ‘Gee, I think it’s just fine for billionaires to pay little or no taxes for years on end.”
The new social spending plan that is about to officially be pushed forward by the Democrats is likely to total roughly $1.75 trillion. While it’s still very expensive, it’s a huge cut from the original $3.5 trillion they were proposing.
While full details of the plan aren’t available yet, it’s likely to include programs directed at climate change, child care and health care.
All along, Biden has insisted that all this new spending would be paid for in full by increases in taxes to the wealthy, and that no new debt would be added to what’s already a mountain of debt America has. The president has also said that no one who earns less than $400,000 annually would see an increase to their tax bill.
It appears as though this latest proposal has won over Sinema and Manchin. Democrats need their support, and that of the other 48 senators in their party, if they want their proposal to pass via budget reconciliation. It’s very unlikely to be supported by any Republican senators.
Still, there are people in the Democratic Party who don’t believe the billionaires’ tax is a good idea. Representative Richard Neal, for instance, believes it would be very difficult to actually implement. The Massachusetts representative, who serves as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said it would be better to simply raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
