Today, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), former chairman and current member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined his Republican colleagues on the committee in a press conference discussing the consequences of Democrats’ latest $750 billion reconciliation proposal.
The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) found that Democrats’ partisan plan includes a nearly $17 billion tax hike on families and individuals making less than $200,000 in 2023 – breaking President Biden’s promise not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000. JCT also found that half of the $313 billion raised by the Democrats’ so-called corporate-minimum tax will fall on domestic manufacturers.
Grassley pointed out how many of these policies are completely inconsistent with Democrats’ stated goals.
“Think of the inconsistency of Democrats always complaining about the wealth and the lack of taxation on the part of the very wealthy. And then you’re giving big bonuses to people that can afford to buy $80,000 [electric] cars, which is enhancing the pocketbooks of the one percent that they’re complaining about aren’t paying their ‘fair share’ of taxes,” Grassley said.
Below is a transcription of Senator Grassley’s remarks:
I’m going to take off on a point that Senator Portman’s made pretty strong because it’s absolutely the center of this whole thing, and that’s the “inflation reduction” title of their bill – because it’s definitely an inflation enhancing bill. It’s going to lead to inflation.
You’d think that the Democrats would learn a lesson from what happened when they fed the fires of inflation with $2 trillion of additional spending back in March of last year.
They didn’t heed the warning of their own liberal economists – three or four of them, that’re pretty prominent, of which I remember Larry Summers name for sure, saying “don’t do anymore.” And within two months, they passed that two trillion dollars.
And this is some more of the same. Maybe not quite as large, but still some more of the same.
And when you hurt – when you go with inflation, you’re hurting blue-collar workers and families on fixed income. They’re struggling with these climbing prices that they’re getting.
And it just seems to be so inconsistent, for one week, to pass a bill to bring jobs home through the CHIPS bill, and now to pass legislation that’s going to harm manufacturing and create unemployment and maybe even drive some manufacturing overseas. It just seems to me these [are] inconsistent policies.
And then think of the inconsistency of Democrats always complaining about the wealth and the lack of taxation on the part of the very wealthy. And then you’re giving big bonuses to people that can afford to buy $80,000 [electric] cars, which is enhancing the pocketbooks of the one percent that they’re complaining about aren’t paying their “fair share” of taxes.
So, this is not only bad policy, but it’s completely inconsistent in so many areas of what the Democrats have said that they want us to accomplish this Congress.
Read about Grassley’s work to combat climbing costs by clicking HERE.
