OPINION:
“If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street
“If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat
“If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat
“If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet
“’Cause I’m the taxman, yeah, I’m the taxman”
Were the words to the Beatles’ classic song “Taxman” a preview to a possible Joe Biden presidency? Looking at his statements during the campaign, I am convinced that Joe Biden will be the new taxman.
“First thing I’d do is repeal those Trump tax cuts,” Mr. Biden told a crowd in Columbia, South Carolina, in May 2019. A repeal of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would impose a significant tax increase on the hard-working people of America.
Under the Trump tax cuts, a typical family of four earning the median family income of $73,000 would receive a 58% reduction in their federal taxes — which is a tax cut of more than $2,000. That’s real money.
A single parent with one child and an annual income of $41,000 would see a 73% reduction in federal taxes — a tax cut of more than $1,300. Again, real money for that parent and child.
Despite what the Democrats and many in the media say, most Americans benefited from the Trump tax cuts. Even The New York Times acknowledges that “Most people got a tax cut.” It went on to state: “To a large degree, the gap between perception and reality on the tax cuts appears to flow from a sustained — and misleading — effort by liberal opponents of the law to brand it as a broad middle-class tax increase.”
Mr. Biden is determined to continue that myth. He repeated it in his campaign kickoff address when he said that only high-income households got the tax cut. Even The Washington Post called him on it and gave his statement a four Pinocchio rating, which is “clearly false.” As The Post noted, “most Americans received a tax cut.”
If most Americans saw a reduction in their tax burden because of the Trump tax cuts, logic tells us that those same Americans will see a tax increase if the first thing Mr. Biden does “is repeal those Trump tax cuts.” Mr. Biden is making the same argument that former Vice President Walter Mondale tried to make against President Reagan when he called for a tax increase during the 1984 campaign.
Give Mondale credit for being honest. He told voters that he would raise their taxes. After hearing Mondale’s plan, the voters helped Reagan win 49 nine states in a landslide victory. That is a mistake the left is certainly not going to make again.
Mr. Biden and his campaign, with the help of his fellow Democrats and many in the media, are trying to convince voters that someone else’s taxes will go up when they are in control. Unfortunately for most of us, that “someone else” is the same person we see in the mirror.
Mr. Biden, the taxman, will jack up taxes on most Americans. Mr. Biden, the taxman, will raise taxes on most employers, too. That will cost us jobs.
Last week, the former vice president said in a speech in Pennsylvania that he would raise the corporate tax rate: “I’m gonna raise it back up to 28 percent.” That would mean American employers would pay more than businesses do in Communist China. Mr. Biden would raise the current rate by 33 percent (from 21% to 28%). The corporate tax rate in China is currently 25%. In other words, Mr. Biden’s tax burden is not as bad a Communist plan; it is worse.
Looking back, however, few if any of us should be surprised. When Mr. Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president, the corporate tax rate was 35%. America had the highest in the developed world. In contrast, President Trump and congressional Republicans cut it to 21%.
Overall, the Trump tax cuts helped usher in massive economic growth and prosperity. The national unemployment rate fell to the lowest in 50 years, and for African-Americans, Hispanics-Americans, Asian-Americans, people with disabilities and veterans, unemployment rates fell to the lowest levels ever recorded in each category. Tax cuts, as part of a comprehensive economic package, work.
We saw the same type of thing happen in Wisconsin. After years of tax increases, we provided significant tax relief, and our people got back to work. Since 2011, hard-working Wisconsinites have benefited from more than $13 billion in tax relief. During the same period, unemployment fell to an all-time low, and there were more jobs than ever before in the history of the state.
Tax cuts work. And they help put more people to work, too. That’s something Joe Biden the taxman doesn’t seem to understand.
• Scott Walker was the 45th governor of Wisconsin. You can contact him at swalker@washingtontimes.com or follow him @ScottWalker.
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