Biden’s Tax/Economy Speech: Groundwork Applauds Focus on Building a Stronger Economy

Biden’s Tax/Economy Speech: Groundwork Applauds Focus on Building a Stronger Economy, Devastating Impact of House Tax Plans

Washington, D.C. – Today, Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, released the following statement ahead of President Biden’s planned speech on the economy and House Republicans’ plans to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations.

“President Biden is absolutely right to shine a spotlight on the stark difference between those of us fighting for economic policies that work for everyone, and the new House majority that is prioritizing the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations.

“Congress should be focused on investing in workers and families and protecting the fragile economic recovery, not greasing the skids for wealthy tax cheats and increasing taxes for ordinary Americans.”

BACKGROUND 

By using their first legislative vote to help rich tax dodgers get away with paying less than they owe in taxes, the GOP made their priorities clear: They want those already at the top to keep getting ahead, no matter what that means for our economy.

• The first bill of a new Congress is typically used to signal the majority’s top priority. In the last two Congresses, the Democratic majority’s first bill was the “For the People Act,” which would protect the right to vote and enact campaign finance reform.
• The new House GOP majority voted to repeal investments that would help identify tax fraud among those earning more than $400,000 a year. This move would allow tax cheats among businesses and high earners to continue getting out of paying taxes they owe and add to the deficit.
• The GOP received well-deserved blowback for claiming they were voting to protect everyday workers and small businesses. As independent experts and fact-checkers have repeatedly noted, the IRS funding the GOP wants to repeal would increase audits only on those making $400,000 a year or more.
• While working people pay 99% of the taxes they owe, research shows the top 1% hides about 20% of their income from the IRS. Fifty-five major U.S. corporations paid ZERO federal income taxes in 2021.
• Repealing investments in identifying tax fraud among large corporations and the very wealthy would let them off the hook for $160 billion or more in taxes over the next decade. This would leave workers paying disproportionately more and widen the gap between the highest-income earners and everyone else.
• After years of budget cuts, the IRS needs resources to help regular taxpayers get better customer service from the IRS. Customer service representatives answered only 11% of calls in 2021, with wait times averaging 23 minutes.
• At a time when corporate profiteering is forcing workers to pay more for basics like food and housing, and income inequality is high and rising, the last thing we need is another GOP plan to help the very rich and hurt everyone else.