As we approach Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s next self-imposed deadline of October 31st to get a vote on Infrastructure through her chamber, we’re keeping up the pressure on the members of the PA delegation who represent moderate districts. As the spending spree conversation is atop local newspaper columns to national nightly news broadcasts, we encourage every listener to reach out to your member and ensure they have the myths debunked and facts known. President Biden continues to declare his proposal will cost “zero dollars,” having the First Lady pitching that notion in Allentown just two weeks ago and him pitching the idea in Scranton last week. We must all be positioned to defend the point that tax increases on hard-working Americans are the lone offset of the spending package.
Myth #1 – The reconciliation proposal “costs zero dollars.”
Fact – The Build Back Better Act does not cost “zero dollars.”
The president and Congress have proposed trillions of dollars in tax hikes that will hit small businesses and the middle class to pay for the $3.5 trillion package. Biden is saying the bill will cost “zero dollars” because the government would pass on that cost in the form of trillions of dollars in tax hikes. The American taxpayer knows better.
Myth #2 – Even if the proposal isn’t “free,” it will still be offset by a series of tax hikes and offsets.
Fact – We can’t be sure yet what the financial impact of the bill would be.
Despite Biden’s claim that the Build Back Better Act will cost “zero dollars,” we cannot yet determine what impact the bill will have without comprehensive estimates by the CBO and Joint Tax Committee. Rushing the process means less transparency and accountability.
At the very least, lawmakers should wait to see what impact the bill will have on the federal debt before casting their vote. Doing otherwise suggests Congress does not care if future generations will be burdened by these decisions.
Even with a CBO estimate, there’s no shortage of budget gimmickry in the bill. Lawmakers went to great lengths to make provisions appear to cost less than they really do. For example, one of the most expensive provisions in the package would expand the Child Tax Credit at a cost of $556 billion.
However, this estimate assumes the program would phase out after a few years, even though supporters of the package fully intend for the provision to be permanent. This would substantially increase the price, likely by hundreds of billions of dollars.
Myth #3 – The proposal will be paid for by taxing the wealthy. No one earning under $400,000 will see their taxes increase.
Fact – Even Americans earning $30,000 could see tax hikes.
Biden pledged that he will not raise taxes “one cent” on anyone earning less than $400,000, and that he will fund the proposal by making the wealthy “pay their share in taxes.” Nonpartisan analysis shows this is not the case.
The Joint Tax Committee’s distributional analysis of the House Ways and Means Committee proposal shows that even Americans earning $30,000 would see higher taxes. Small businesses would also be swept up under the bill and would be subject to tax hikes. A number of tax hikes under the $3.5 trillion boondoggle would burden lower-and-middle income Americans.
For those of your in the 1st Congressional District represented by Rep. Fitzpatrick, the 7th Congressional District represented by Rep. Wild, the 8th Congressional District represented by Rep. Cartwright and the 17th Congressional District represented by Rep. Lamb, we need you to be loudest. We need you calling their offices daily, tagging their accounts in your social media posts and sending and sharing our letter at www.stopthepsendingspree.com. Let’s work together to ensure Speaker Pelosi’s upcoming vote deadline is missed again! I’m Ashley Klingensmith, State Director with Americans for Prosperity-Pennsylvania. Find us on Facebook by searching @PAAFP and on Twitter by searching @AFPPennsylvania.
Ashley Sisca Klingensmith | State Director | Americans for Prosperity – PA
m: 412.915.1551 | e: [email protected] | @AFPPennsylvania