In Response to the WSJ's Claim that Biden Budget Proposal Sets Tough Stage for Republicans to Fight On.
No, there will be no fight.
There is no fight here. It's very simple, Biden's radical leftist agenda is DOA in the house. I am confident not one single member of the House will work with this administration when they begin negotiations in such bad faith. They know that every single element they propose is an absolute nonstarter for the Republican majority and for the people at large. Some of these ideas are incredibly anti-growth, and punitive to workers in the top income brackets - especially those making their earnings through investing.
Raising the top bracket to 39%. Jumping Corporate tax rates by 8%. Doubling long-term capital gains tax to ~40% from 23.5% currently. Eliminating an incentive-based compensation structure where financial managers often don't have a guaranteed salary and only benefit if their client's benefits are rightfully taxed at the capital gains rate. This is fair for several reasons, including the simple fact that those earnings (often benefiting large pensions, life insurance companies, nonprofit endowments, and academic institutions) are in the form of capital gains. As such, the manager is contractually owed a portion of them for clearing a certain return threshold for his investors. Also often forgotten, this treatment is only for long-term investments - short-term trading gains are still taxed at the income bracket level. Moving down the list of travesties, this proposal calls for axing 1031 like-kind exchanges, which have helped fuel record US home ownership, and steady, strong growth in housing prices year after year, making many Americans much wealthier in the process. Furthermore, rather bizarrely, the administration wants to cripple a nascent industry with massive potential and should be allowed to grow and mature into large-scale, stable solutions appropriate for the general public. They are taking that step by penalizing investors in crypto securities by, rescinding their right to claim losses against future trading income, something you are well within your rights to do with equities and other financial instruments.,
In line with their radical position on energy and global priorities, this administration is attempting to crush further oil companies fighting for American energy independence by revoking and nullifying all and any benefits to the industry under the current tax code. This is especially egregious when you consider the environment we are in: The domestic market is in an existential crisis, and as a result, E&P capex investment is very depressed. This is directly a result of the daily regulatory threats and hourly bombastic rhetoric by leaders openly calling for the industry’s extinction, all vowing to take steps to put them out of business in a few short years. One of the world’s largest oil suppliers is off the market, dramatically reducing global supply in arguably the most global market. Similar issues are emerging from the Middle East. Members of OPEC are talking about reducing oil output, with Saudi Arabia at the forefront of those calls for reductions. Our own reserves are historically low, and we are facing a raging battle with inflation that won't subside despite the Federal Reserve's best efforts. With all that in mind, it should be clear that it is NOT the right time to isolate and excessively punish an industry crucial to our economic health and way of life.
These policies are inflationary, damaging to growth, poorly thought out, and shamefully partisan. No one should take them seriously, and Republican lawmakers shouldn't even waste their breath trying to negotiate in good faith when this is the type of opening offer the opposing party brings to the start of negotiations. Democrats know we will never agree, which is why they are doing this. They don't have power now, so the best they can do is make Republicans look bad in the eyes of the public for not supporting debt reduction, protecting the wealthy, and doing favors to the energy lobby. We shouldn't entertain these games. We hold the keys to a debt ceiling limit increase and must ensure they know that every step of the way.