Rubio bill would stop 'woke corporations' from getting tax breaks for paying for abortions



U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says that by paying for employees' abortions and financing so-called "gender-affirming care" for their children, "corporate elites have gone full crazy." In response, he's filed legislation that he says will prevent taxpayers from subsidizing "corporate activism."

Rubio introduced the "No Tax Breaks for Radical Corporate Activism Act" on Tuesday, a bill that would prohibit employers from deducting expenses related to paying travel costs for employees who want an abortion, medical costs for employees seeking cross-sex hormones, or puberty-blockers for their children. The bill comes in response to several major companies that have announced new employee abortion benefits in recent weeks, including Amazon, Yelp, Citigroup, and others.

Federal tax law permits businesses to deduct certain expenses that are considered "ordinary and necessary" for operating, including employee health care plans, some medical expenses, and other related benefits. Rubio's bill would "deny the trade or business expense deduction for the reimbursement of employee costs of child gender transition procedure or travel to obtain an abortion."

“Our tax code should be pro-family and promote a culture of life. Instead, too often our corporations find loopholes to subsidize the murder of unborn babies or horrific 'medical' treatments on kids," Rubio said in a statement. "My bill would make sure this does not happen."

In anticipation that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision — a landmark legal precedent that established a constitutional right to an abortion — pro-life lawmakers in several states have advanced laws banning or restricting abortions. If Roe is overturned, as a leaked Supreme Court majority opinion suggests it will be, 26 states have so-called trigger laws or unenforced laws on the books that would ban or severely restrict abortion access.

Several major corporations have responded by committing to pay for pregnant employees in those states to travel out of state if they want to kill their unwanted child. Amazon, the second largest private employer in the U.S., on Monday became the latest company to do so, offering to pay up to $4,000 annually in travel expenses for any pregnant employee who travels more than 100 miles for an abortion.

In an op-ed for Newsweek, Rubio criticized these companies for supporting "abortion tourism," as well as Disney for offering to pay for gender transition "care" for children of its employees.

"While the radical Left drives this insanity, the law enables it,' Rubio wrote. "The current U.S. tax code allows employers to deduct employee compensation and benefits. Because a lot can fall under that umbrella, the code also specifies certain expenses that don't qualify for tax breaks. But there is no provision that prohibits Citigroup and others from deducting abortion and gender transition costs. As a result, these corporations may be able to help their employees kill their unborn children or transition their son into a daughter tax-free!

"This has to change. Businesses should not receive tax breaks for radical leftist activism, especially when that activism jeopardizes our children. Our tax code should encourage family formation and promote a culture of life. Instead, it too often encourages subsidies for the murder of unborn babies and the performance of horrific 'medical' treatments on kids," he said.

Sen. Josh Hawley wants to give parents direct monthly payments for having kids



U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) rolled out a proposal on Monday for a new welfare program for parents, to give them direct monthly payments for having children and raising a family.

Hawley's "Parent Tax Credit" proposal would create a new fully refundable $6,000 tax credit for single parents and $12,000 tax credit for married parents with children who qualify. Parents would receive direct, automatic payments from the government in advance of filing their taxes each year. The plan is designed to make benefits accessible for households with only one working parent when the other parent opts to stay home with their children.

"Starting a family and raising children should not be a privilege only reserved for the wealthy. Millions of working people want to start a family and would like to care for their children at home, but current policies do not respect these preferences," Hawley said in a statement. "American families should be supported, no matter how they choose to care for their kids."

To qualify for the tax credit, a single parent or married parents filing taxes jointly must report a minimum earnings of $7,540 annually, or 20 hours of work per week at the federal minimum wage. This policy creates a "marriage bonus," because married parents can work together to meet the minimum earnings requirement.

Payments to families would be advanced by the Internal Revenue Service monthly, or if a family opts out of monthly payments, they would be eligible to receive a lump-sum return when they file federal taxes. There is no income phase-out, meaning every American would be eligible for the program, no matter how wealthy they are.

Hawley released his plan just ahead of President Joe Biden's impending announcement of an estimated $1.8 trillion spending and tax plan for American families.

The president will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday and is expected to call for billions in spending on national child care, prekindergarten, paid family leave, and free community college, according to the Washington Post. Many of these policies are designed to make good on campaign promises and will be funded by raising taxes on wealthy Americans and investors.

Biden's plan will reportedly ask for a $200 billion increase in health insurance subsidies for Obamacare; $300 billion in education funding, including for tuition-free college; $225 billion for child-care funding; $225 billion for paid family and medical leave; $200 billion for pre-school funding; and a $400 billion extension of the child tax credit through 2025.

Benefits from the child tax credit were already increased for one year under President Biden as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed in March. Families eligible for the tax credit can receive $3,600 for each child up to age six and $3,000 for children ages seven to 17.

But some Republicans think Democrats are not doing enough to send direct payments to American families.

Hawley on Saturday criticized Biden's proposal, teasing the plan he introduced Monday.

We need a plan to help working parents that is pro-family and pro-work. I’ll be proposing legislation this coming w… https://t.co/mfo0dKZxeU
— Josh Hawley (@Josh Hawley)1619311475.0

In February, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) introduced his own proposal to give parents of young children monthly $350 payments in perpetuity. Romney's plan was estimated to cost $254 billion. He proposed a series of changes to the tax code and the elimination of several tax deductions to offset the additional spending in his plan.

Hawley has not released an estimated cost for his plan or a proposal of how to pay for it.

Elizabeth Warren: I'll fight to break up Big Tech to stop companies from... 'heckl[ing] senators with snotty tweets'?



Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) vowed on Thursday to fight to "break up Big Tech" companies so they are not powerful enough to "heckle senators with snotty tweets."

Warren advanced this anti-free speech argument after the Twitter account for Amazon News challenged the progressive senator when she falsely asserted that Amazon paid "close to nothing" in federal taxes.

"Giant corporations like Amazon report huge profits to their shareholders – but they exploit loopholes and tax havens to pay close to nothing in taxes," Warren tweeted Wednesday, sharing a clip from a Senate Finance Committee hearing in which she argued for legislation to increase the tax burden on corporations.

Warren claimed that between 2018 and 2020, when the corporate tax rate was 21 percent, Amazon only paid an effective tax rate of 4.3% by exploiting various loopholes, deductions, and profit-shifting provisions of the tax code.

Amazon News responded to Warren's tweet telling her, "You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them. If you don't like the laws you've created, by all means, change them."

@SenWarren 1/3 You make the tax laws @SenWarren; we just follow them. If you don’t like the laws you’ve created, by… https://t.co/21DXVmzbZ9
— Amazon News (@Amazon News)1616719591.0

Amazon went on to say that the company paid $1.7 billion in federal taxes in 2020, excluding the additional $18 billion revenues generated for state governments through various sales taxes nationwide. The account noted Amazon made $350 billion in investments since 2010 and created 400,000 new jobs last year.

In a parting shot, Amazon told Warren, "While you're working on changing the tax code, can we please raise the federal minimum wage to $15?"

The senator from Massachusetts responded to the criticism with a threat to break up Big Tech companies like Amazon so they can't tweet disagreements at her.

"I didn't write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon — your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did," she claimed. "But you bet I'll fight to make you pay your fair share. And fight your union-busting. And fight to break up Big Tech so you're not powerful enough to heckle senators with snotty tweets."

I didn’t write the loopholes you exploit, @amazon – your armies of lawyers and lobbyists did. But you bet I’ll figh… https://t.co/YuApiIAFrK
— Elizabeth Warren (@Elizabeth Warren)1616728140.0

Warren has previously proposed a plan to increase regulation on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter to "fight disinformation." Her proposal calls for reforms to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — a law that grants liability protections to social media platforms so they can't be sued for content posted on their websites by third parties.

Warren wants Big Tech companies to share data with the federal government, moderate even more content with warning labels about disinformation, and otherwise increase censorship to combat so-called "false information" — and apparently to stop "snotty tweets."