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Biden’s budget wages war on wealth



Like everything else emerging from this economically and morally bankrupt administration, Joe Biden’s campaign promises disguised as a budget are packed with lies and destruction. While presidential budgets typically don’t survive Congress, Biden’s $7.3 trillion spending proposal offers a glimpse into the tactics the Democrats will use to come after your wealth, and it should scare the heck out of you.

The White House says the budget is aimed in part at “lowering costs and giving families more breathing room,” which is weird and inconsiderate gaslighting of struggling middle- and working-class Americans. While the rate of increase in prices has come off its June 2022 peak of 9.1%, costs remain high, and families are still stressed.

Americans need to wake up or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.

Assuming Biden’s insane proposals did not undermine the economy and send interest rates skyrocketing, his budget would add trillions to the national debt, bringing it to $45.1 trillion in the next decade under the rosiest of scenarios.

Biden proposes the largest tax increase in history on the people who pay the lion’s share of federal taxes, all in the name of “fairness,” of course.

He also wants to hike the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, an effort that may sound appealing but would likely make America’s corporate landscape less competitive. And taxes are never paid by corporations themselves. Businesses pass the additional burden along to employees and consumers, who are suffering enough already.

These proposals, should they take hold, would not only have a material adverse effect on the economy but of course would be benchmarked for everyone so that government will be set up to steal more and more of your wealth to pay for its own power-grab.

Capital gains in the crosshairs

One of the most egregious proposed shifts is changing the capital gains rate to an ordinary income rate. Capital gains are what you pay on money you risk, which has already been taxed, should there be an increase. The proposal starts with people earning $1 million or more a year. Not only would that have a massive impact on capital allocation and liquidity, but once in place for higher-income earners, it could easily creep down to middle-class brackets. It’s happened before and could easily happen again.

Changing the capital gains tax rate could also impose a massive penalty on family businesses when they have a once-in-a-lifetime exit.

Biden also sows class division by conflating wealth and income. Another White House budget “fact sheet” repeats the lie that “billionaires make their money in ways that are often taxed at lower rates than ordinary wage income, or sometimes not taxed at all.” As a result, the administration claims, “many of these wealthy Americans are able pay an average income tax rate of just 8 percent on their full incomes — a lower rate than many firefighters or teachers.”

Now, if you are wondering how billionaires end up with an 8% income tax rate — because that sounds amazing — they do not. The claim originated with a White House “study” that purported to examine “income from unsold stock.” What on earth does that mean? Tax rates on qualified dividends are 0%, 15%, and 20%, depending on income. So what are they talking about?

Not surprisingly, it is unrealized stock appreciation at a given point in time. This is a made-up proxy for a wealth tax. This is not how income tax works, and it is a straight-up lie to say this is an actual income tax rate for billionaires and portray it as the average tax rate of the “wealthiest.”

Property rights in peril

But why expect any truth from this administration? Why expect any fiscal discipline? And why expect anything other than trying to grab more of our wealth to secure governmental power?

While many Americans may be inclined to support higher taxes on billionaires, don’t be fooled. It’s a trick to get you to surrender your property rights. The billionaires will find other loopholes. Middle- and working-class wealth will be vulnerable to government plunder. (To understand the threat in detail, read my recent book, “You Will Own Nothing.”)

The Biden administration is proposing trillions of dollars in government spending as a means of “helping the middle class.” You’ve seen what government help has done to your quality of life, and you can’t afford any more.

Speaking of affordability, the administration laughably claims its budget will make college more affordable through larger Pell Grants. More government spending doesn’t cut costs; it simply creates another mechanism for colleges to raise tuition, making college less affordable.

With the national debt projected to top $45.1 trillion, it’s clear that any promise to “cut the deficit” is more than a joke. It’s a recipe for financial ruin.

While presidential budgets are never realistic or final, it’s a good reminder that this administration only cares about preserving power and expanding government, rather than securing the American dream or restoring our financial foundation. Americans need to wake up, or they will be living in a financial nightmare permanently.

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Democrats now want to tax people’s stock gains before they sell them to help pay for Biden's massive social spending bill



Democratic leadership over the weekend began suggesting a new way to pay for President Biden's multitrillion-dollar social policy and climate action spending bill — a tax on wealthy people's unrealized capital gains.

Unrealized capital gains are increases in value of stock purchases that the purchaser has yet to "realize" by selling the stock at its new price.

"We probably will have a wealth tax," Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) told CNN on Sunday.

In a separate interview with the network, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen confirmed that the policy is being discussed, though she was careful not to call it a wealth tax. According to Yellen, the policy would impose a tax on billionaires' stock gains as well as other assets like real estate.

"I wouldn't call that a wealth tax, but it would help get at capital gains, which are an extraordinarily large part of the incomes of the wealthiest individuals and right now escape taxation until they're realized," Yellen said.

.@SecYellen on the proposed tax which would pay for the Build Back Better act: "It's not a wealth tax, but a tax on… https://t.co/NSkcnMNMnV

— The Hill (@thehill) 1635118260.0

According to the New York Times, the policy is currently being put together by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), who heads the Senate Finance Committee. It is expected to be unveiled sometime this week.

"It would affect people with $1 billion in assets or those who have reported at least $100 million in income for three consecutive years," the Times reported, adding that "Democrats hope it would generate at least $200 billion in revenue over a decade."

Yet even $200 billion is only a drop in the bucket compared to the total price tag of Biden's proposal, which now sits at roughly $2 trillion, according to reports.

The proposal started at $3.5 trillion but has required significant downsizing in recent weeks due to opposition to the proposal from members within Biden's own party — including Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.).

The bill's stagnation in Congress has left proponents scrambling to find agreeable ways to pay for it. But it remains to be seen whether a tax on unrealized capital gains will be acceptable to moderate Democrats.

The tax is certainly not popular with Republicans. During an interview with Mark Levin on Sunday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) called the idea extremely problematic.

"Part of their strategy right now is not only to increase the tax rates but to find new ways to generate revenue from revenue that is not [in] your account yet," Scott said. "That is something that is not just problematic. That is something that actually discourages the system itself."

"We can't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs," Scott continued, adding, "This administration is antithetical to all things free enterprise, hoping for liberty and justice for all."

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