While Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was touting her message of “Tax the Rich” on an expensive gown to the ultra-expensive Met Gala on Monday night, President Biden was busy championing the same message, inveighing against the rich in order to sell his “Build Back Better” program.
Concomitant with Ocasio-Cortez wearing the expensive gown emblazoned “Tax the Rich,” Biden was simultaneously championing the message on Monday night, tweeting, “If you make less than $400,000 per year, I’ll never raise your taxes one penny. But if you’re at the very top, it’s time to pay your fair share. We need to reward work in this country — not just wealth.”
If you make less than $400,000 per year, I’ll never raise your taxes one penny.
But if you’re at the very top, it’s time to pay your fair share.
We need to reward work in this country — not just wealth.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 13, 2021
On Tuesday morning, Biden doubled down with his class warfare, tweeting, “Look, I don’t want to punish anyone’s success, but the wealthy have been getting a free ride at the expense of the middle class for too long.”
Look, I don’t want to punish anyone’s success, but the wealthy have been getting a free ride at the expense of the middle class for too long.
I intend to pass one of the biggest middle class tax cuts ever — paid for by making those at the top pay their fair share.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 14, 2021
Biden tripled down on Tuesday afternoon, tweeting, “It’s time the super-wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes.”
It’s time the super-wealthy and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 14, 2021
That prompted Ocasio-Cortez to return the favor only 23 minutes later as she pushed Biden’s Build Back Better Act, chortling on Twitter, “Couldn’t agree more. Taxing the rich will help us expand Medicare, extend childcare, take action on climate, and so much more. We have a precious opportunity right now in reconciliation with the Build Back Better Act, and we should use it.”
Couldn’t agree more. Taxing the rich will help us expand Medicare, extend childcare, take action on climate, and so much more.
We have a precious opportunity right now in reconciliation with the Build Back Better Act, and we should use it. https://t.co/zK4qYdP07v
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 14, 2021
That, in turn, led to Biden tweeting, “To be clear: If you make under 400k, my Build Back Better Agenda won’t raise your taxes a cent. Not only that — you’ll get a historic tax cut, and see lower costs on things like child care and health care. And all of it will be paid for by the wealthy paying their fair share.”
To be clear: If you make under 400k, my Build Back Better Agenda won’t raise your taxes a cent.
Not only that — you’ll get a historic tax cut, and see lower costs on things like child care and health care.
And all of it will be paid for by the wealthy paying their fair share.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 14, 2021
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget slammed the Build Back Better plan in August:
The Build Back Better plan consists of two parts: the $550 billion bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and a plan to use reconciliation instructions to enact $3.5 trillion of spending and tax breaks, mostly related to family benefits, health care, and climate change mitigation. Though policymakers claim both are paid for, a closer look suggests the offsets will fall short. The bipartisan infrastructure bill counts savings from policies that have already occurred, while the reconciliation plan is likely to claim excessive revenue from closing the tax gap and “long-term economic growth.”
The Utah Taxpayers Association offers a detailed rebuttal to the claim that the wealthy don’t pay their fair share of taxes:
The following graph from the national Tax Foundation, using IRS data shows how the top 5% of income earners pay an average income tax rate of 17.3% and the top 1% pay an average rate of 25.4%. It should be noted that this only accounts for federal income taxes. Once you pile state income tax on top of that the average rates jump much higher, especially in high tax states like California and New York, driving the wealthy to low or no income tax states like Texas and Florida.
Compare that 25.4% average tax rate to the bottom 50% of earners rate of just 3.4%. That is a massive difference. When it comes to the tax rates the wealthy pay, it is a fact that they pay far more than middle and lower income individuals. Their average rate is SEVEN TIMES higher than those in the bottom 50% of income. …
In the most recent year that complete data is available, 2018, the bottom 50% of income earners, those with AGI less than $43,614 (single), contributed just under 3% of the total taxes paid, or $45.1 billion dollars to be exact. The other 97% of the total taxes collected was paid by the top 50% of income earners.
One Twitter user had a salient question for Ocasio-Cortez: “How many ‘working-class women’ can afford the items for sale on the website of the designer who designed the dress AOC wore to the Met Gala?”
How many “working-class women” can afford the items for sale on the website of the designer who designed the dress AOC wore to the Met Gala? pic.twitter.com/8UmvP40HWD
— Maria Laoise (@MariaLaoise) September 14, 2021
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Source: Dailywire
