House Democrats are looking to expand social safety nets by increasing pressure on the wealthiest 1%.
House Democrats have been workshopping a new major spending package, with the primary goal being to expand social safety nets. This new plan is naturally projected to have a rather steep price tag, so in order to facilitate its implementation, the wealthiest corporations and citizens of America will be expected to give a little more.
Currently, there are two plans in the works, one from the House Democrats themselves, and one introduced by the Ways and Means Committee. The House’s plan is to raise the corporate tax rate to 26.5%, while the wealthiest individuals could see a tax hike of up to 39.6%. The Ways and Means Committee’s plan, introduced by Chair Richard Neal, is similar, but with the additional stipulations of a 3% surtax on those who make more than $5 million annually, as well as an increase to the capital gains rate up to 28.8%.
If passed in this current form, this plan would constitute the largest tax hike in multiple decades of American history, though the plan was specifically tailored to only target those making more than $400,000 annually, with only the top 1% experiencing its full brunt.
Senior House Democrats are coalescing around a draft proposal that could raise as much as $2.9 trillion to pay for most of President Biden’s expansion of the social safety net by increasing taxes on the wealthiest corporations and individuals. https://t.co/GbII9Efjga
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 13, 2021
“This meets two core goals the President laid out at the beginning of this process — it does not raise taxes on Americans earning under $400,000 and it repeals the core elements of the Trump tax giveaways for the wealthy and corporations that have done nothing to strengthen our country’s economic health,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates in a statement.
“The President looks forward to continuing to work with Chairman Neal, as well as the Senate Finance Committee and Chairman Wyden, as we advance the Build Back Better agenda.”
The Democrats’ reconciliation package will need to be assembled by an internal deadline of September 15.