The Biden administration is sticking to its message that the president’s proposed $6 trillion in spending — which has been bucked by Republicans in Congress — would and should be paid for by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said raising the corporate tax rate above its current 21 percent rate, while keeping it below 35 percent, and closing corporate tax loopholes will help pay for President Joe Biden’s plans. She said those plans are “necessary to invest in our economy so that we can be competitive and have families and children succeed, invest in infrastructure, in R&D, and the things that shore up middle class prosperity: education, child care, and health care.”
They will also be paid for by paying on capital gains and dividends for Americans making $1 million or more, Yellen said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“No family earning under $400,000 will pay a penny more in taxes,” the Treasury secretary added. “We’ve been assiduous in sticking to that pledge.”
Her remarks were echoed by White House chief of staff Ron Klain. “More Americans, many more Americans will see their taxes go down if the president’s plan is passed than see them go up,” he said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Republican legislators preached the opposite on Sunday, arguing that the tax increases will make the U.S. economy less competitive, not more, as the Biden administration is pitching.
