By Ray Cardello for March 12, 2023 Season 16 / Post 46

Joe Biden is late in proposing his budget for 2023, but that may be because it took a lot of time to add so many more ways to control our lives. Although the budget is a staggering $6.8 Trillion, the real story is how Biden and Democrats feel they need to be more involved in our lives. This wing of our government does not think that people can make their own decisions. The Democrats want the power to control your life from the cradle to the grave. That is not freedom. That is not living as free people. That is living as puppets living by the whims of the ruling class. The Democrats may have avoided a red wave in 2022, but if they adopt this thinking, they may get drowned by a tsunami in 2024.

Biden’s focal point of his proposal is the bundle of new taxes aimed at the wealthiest people in America that he claims will bring in $5 Trillion over the next ten years and save Social Security and Medicare from insolvency. Below is a list of new taxes from Biden’s plan:

Proposed Tax Change10-Year Revenue in Billions of Dollars

Corporate and International Tax Proposals

Increase the corporate income tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent $1,325.8 

– Increase taxes on foreign fossil fuel income $1,160.6

Quadruple the stock buyback tax implemented in the Inflation Reduction Act from 1 percent to 4 percent $237.9

Increase energy taxes, including repeal of expensing for intangible drilling costs, percentage depletion for oil and gas wells, and a new 30 percent tax on electricity used for digital asset mining $36.5

Misc. business tax proposals $130.2

Individual and Pass-Through Business Tax Proposals

Raise the top statutory tax rate on individual income to 39.6 percent for single filers earning over $400,000 and joint filers earning over $450,000 $235.3

Create a 25 percent “billionaire minimum tax” to tax unrealized capital gains of high-net-worth taxpayers $436.6

Expand the base of the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) to apply to active pass-through business income above $400,000 and increase the NIIT and Health Insurance (HI) tax rates from 3.8 percent to 5 percent above $400,000 $650.3

Restrict contributions to IRAs for taxpayers with incomes above $400,000 $22.7

Make permanent the pass-through business loss limitation $71.3

Tax carried interest as ordinary income $6.5

Misc. individual tax proposals $24.5

Capital Gains, Estate, and Gift Tax, and IRS Proposals

Repeal like-kind exchanges for deferred gain worth over $500,000 for single taxpayers and $1 million for joint taxpayers $18.6

Tax capital gains at ordinary income tax rates for taxpayers with income over $1 million $213.9

Change cryptocurrency tax rules $31.6

Modify estate and gift tax rules including for valuations and trusts $77.5

Increase tax compliance and enforcement $13.7

Subtotal (Tax Increases) $4,693.6

Expanded Tax Credits and Other Provisions

Extend the ARPA Child Tax Credit expansion for one year, make the CTC fully refundable on a permanent basis, and create a monthly payment option -$429.2

Permanently extend the ARPA enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) after they are scheduled to expire in 2026 -$183.0

Permanently expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers without qualifying children -$156.0

Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and create a tax credit for rehabilitating homes in high-poverty neighborhoods -$103.8

Make the New Markets Tax Credit permanent and expand various tax provisions for work, education, and childcare -$23.4

Subtotal (Tax Credits) -$895.4

Net Revenue Increase  $3,798.2

Source: Tax Foundation compilation from the President’s FY 2024 budget, The White House, https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.

Biden has not learned the lessons of the past. Taxing the wealthy will put the brakes on business growth, send businesses back overseas, cut employment, and possibly send a portion of this wealth into overseas accounts where it cannot be taxed.

This budget proposal is dead before presented, but it points out how little Biden thinks of Americans and success. He is setting up a fight with Congress, but to what end. It will point out to Americans the stark difference between Democrats and big government and the Republicans who believe in people and the freedom they want and deserve.