- President Joe Biden wants to raise taxes on corporations and billionaires as part of his new budget.
- In remarks on Friday, Biden noted that Republican President Ronald Reagan had a higher corporate tax rate.
President Joe Biden is taking every opportunity he can get to tout his tax proposals, even if it means invoking a former Republican president to help his case.
On Friday, the US received yet another month of positive economic data, with the February jobs report showing an additional 311,000 jobs. The labor market remains hot as inflation is cooling, and Biden celebrated the economic progress during remarks on Friday morning.
"Our economic plan is working, and when I took office, there was no recovery and the economy was reeling," Biden said.
This data also came just one day after Biden unveiled his budget proposal for the upcoming year, which included a revival of many of his well-known priorities like a full renewal of the Child Tax Credit, paid family and medical leave, and an increase in taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
Specifically, Biden wants to bring the corporate tax rate up to 28% from its current 21% — which, as the White House notes, is still lower than the previous rate of 35% under President Barack Obama. That slash from 35% to 21% was part of President Donald Trump's sweeping tax cut package, much of which remains intact as Democrats squabble over what, if any, action on taxes to take.
"Corporations received an enormous tax break in 2017, cutting effective U.S. tax rates for U.S. corporations to a low of less than 10 percent," a White House fact sheet on Biden's budget proposal said. "While their profits soared, their investment in the economy did not."
Republican lawmakers blasted his budget — unsurprisingly, given they were never on board with Biden's tax proposals — and the president on Friday dug into that criticism.
"When we talk about 28% tax rate — Ronald Reagan was 28% tax rate — you know, that wacko liberal guy, the idea that that's an unreasonable amount…" Biden said during his Friday remarks.
Biden has pushed for a higher corporate tax rate previously, saying that he's "sick and tired of ordinary people being fleeced" as some corporations pay nothing in income taxes. However, even during those pushes, Senate Democrats have eyed a 25% rate rather than 28%.
While Biden and his administration have continued to advocate for tax increases, those proposals are unlikely to make much progress in a GOP-controlled House. Republicans and Biden are currently clashing over raising the debt ceiling to prevent a catastrophic default, and while Biden has put forth more funding proposals, GOP lawmakers have only eyed spending cuts on Democratic priorities.
For example, the House Freedom Caucus on Friday unveiled a plan to raise the debt ceiling – but only if Democrats agree to a deal that would rescind pandemic relief spending, block student-debt relief, and end climate programs.
Still, even with the release of Biden's budget proposal, Republicans have yet to put forth their plan. House Budget Chair Jodey Arrington told Politico that there is "no timeline" for a GOP budget, frustrating Democrats as the US inches closer to default.