Ever since President Donald Trump and Republicans passed historic tax cuts, Democrats have been promising to repeal them if elected back into office. Now the party has changed its tune, at least a little.
Democrats now say they won’t immediately inflict tax hikes on the American people should Democratic nominee Joe Biden win the White House and Democrats retake the Senate. Instead, they’ll wait to raise taxes on the so-called wealthy (the base range for who is considered a “wealthy” individual sometimes ensnares middle-class families in expensive states like California and New York) and corporations until after the economy has recovered from the coronavirus recession, The Hill reported.
“Instead, the priority will be on spending to create jobs and raise wages, investments in green technology and infrastructure and a national plan to contain the coronavirus pandemic,” the outlet reported. “Some of those stimulus and relief bills could include tax incentives for clean energy infrastructure and strengthening the nation’s supply chain and domestic manufacturing base. Tax relief in the form of child tax credits and earned income tax credits for lower- and middle-income families are also on the table.”
Democrats have changed their rhetoric as polls continue to show that even though Biden leads Trump nationally, the current president is getting higher marks on his handling of the economy.
“I think we ought to make the decision when we have a better sense of where the economy is going,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) told the outlet.
“We have so much on our plate. We’ve got to deal with COVID and testing,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). “We need to put in place a whole thing to get our arms around the virus and a recovery act.”
“I’m sure a tax piece will be in there somewhere, but No. 1 priority will be COVID,” Stabenow added.
She also told The Hill she had “no idea” when Democrats would increase taxes should they retake control of the White House and Senate.
More from The Hill:
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said Democrats will need to “balance” the need to raise revenues with the overall health of the economy, which has slowed dramatically as a result of the pandemic.
“I think a tax bill can be made effective at a time when we think the economy will be sufficiently robust that some increase in taxes will have no detrimental effect,” he said.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a prominent Biden ally, laughed out loud when asked what the Democratic plan for tax reform is next year.
“Look, if Joe Biden is successful in being elected the next president it will be because we’re in the middle of three crises at the same time: a pandemic, a recession and a renewed focus on racial inequality.”
“He will have the challenge and the mandate to address some of those,” he said.
Other Democrats, however, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), want the party to increase taxes immediately if they take control of the White House and Senate.