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Trump Campaign Press Release - Nothing New In Biden's "Plan" – Just More Taxes And Spending

July 21, 2020

[APP Note:  As with all "Campaign Documents" archived by the APP, the content of this document was prepared by the presidential campaign. This is not the analysis or work product of the American Presidency Project.  We do not vouch for the accuracy of ANY campaign document published by any presidential campaign. They are provided as part of the historical record.]

Instead of pro-job and pro-growth policies, Biden is turning to an old friend – tax hikes and big government

Key Takeaways:

  • Today, Joe Biden is doubling down again on his "plan" to hike taxes and massively increase the size of government
    • Biden's newly unveiled childcare and eldercare "plan" calls for $775 billion in taxes and new government spending
  • Within just the last month, Biden has proposed more than $3.4 trillion in new taxes and spending
    • Biden claims his massive new climate plan unveiled last week will cost taxpayers $2 trillion, and claims his recently released economic plan would cost $700 billion
    • Biden says he would hike taxes by more than $3.4 trillion to pay for these plans, smothering the economy in the middle of a comeback
  • Taken together with his prior "plans," Biden's campaign is proposing nearly $6 trillion in spending, with the likely total over $10 trillion according to independent estimates
  • Biden has drastically underreported the true costs of his plans
    • Biden's newly unveiled plan to eliminate oil, gas, and coal from our electric grid would cost $4.5 trillion, $2.5 trillion more than he claims it would
    • An independent analysis says Biden's healthcare plan would cost nearly $2.25 trillion, $1.5 trillion more than he says
  • Even before Biden's massive new spending spree, he had vowed to raise taxes by an unprecedented $4 trillion
    • Biden's proposed $4 trillion tax hike more than doubles what Hillary Clinton proposed in 2016?

BIDEN IS CALLING FOR ANOTHER $775 BILLION IN SPENDING

Joe Biden Introduced A Massive $775 Billion "Plan" For Taxpayer Funded Universal Preschool And Child Care

This Morning, The Biden Campaign Released The Third Plank Of His Economic "Recovery" Plan, Which Would Cost $775 Billion Over Ten Years. "Joseph R. Biden Jr. will announce a sweeping new $775 billion investment in caregiving programs on Tuesday, with a series of proposals covering care for small children, older adults and family members with disabilities." (Shane Goldmacher And Claire Cain Miller, "Biden To announce $775 Billion Plan To Help Working Parents And Caregivers," The New York Times, 7/21/20)

  • Biden's "Plan" Calls For $775 Billion In New Taxes To Pay For This New Spending. "Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a $775 billion plan to bolster child care and care for the elderly that would be financed by taxes on real estate investors with incomes of more than $400,000 as well increased tax compliance by high-income earners." (Tyler Pager, "Biden Proposes $775 Billion Plan Funded By Real Estate Taxes," Bloomberg, 7/21/20)

IN THE LAST MONTH, BIDEN HAS PROPOSED OVER $3.4 TRILLION IN NEW SPENDING WITH TAX CUTS TO MATCH

On July 14, Biden Released A New Climate "Plan" That Proposes $2 Trillion In New Spending Over Just Four Years. "And, Biden's plan will empower workers to organize unions and bargain collectively with their employers as they rebuild the middle class and a more sustainable future. Biden will make a $2 trillion accelerated investment, with a plan to deploy those resources over his first term, setting us on an irreversible course to meet the ambitious climate progress that science demands." ("The Biden Plan To Build A Modern, Sustainable Infrastructure And an Equitable Clean Energy Future," Biden For President, Accessed 7/21/20)

  • Biden's Campaign Says He Would Hike Business Taxes To 28 Percent And Use "Some Still-Undetermined Amount" Of Money To Pay For The "Plan." "To pay for it, campaign officials said, Mr. Biden proposes an increase in the corporate income tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent, 'asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share,' and using some still-undetermined amount of stimulus money." (Katie Glueck and Lisa Friedman, "Biden Announces $2 Trillion Climate Plan," The New York Times, 7/14/20)
  • Biden's Proposed 28 Percent Business Tax Rate Would Give The U.S. A Higher Rate Than Communist China And Many Other Industrialized Countries. "The Biden 28 percent rate would give the U.S. a higher rate than the United Kingdom (19 percent), China (25 percent), Canada (26.8 percent), and Ireland (12.5 percent). It would impose a tax rate higher than the current combined corporate rate across the 36 member Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), which is currently 23.7 percent." (Adam Sabes, "Biden: I Will Raise Corporate Tax Rate To 28%," Americans For Tax Reform, 7/9/19)

On July 9, Biden Released His First "Build Back Better" Plan That Would Cost $700 Billion. "Make 'Buy American' Real and Make a $400 billion Procurement Investment that together with the Biden clean energy and infrastructure plan will power new demand for American products, materials, and services and ensure that they are shipped on U.S.-flagged cargo carriers. … 'Make a New $300 Billion Investment in Research and Development (R&D) and Breakthrough Technologies — from electric vehicle technology to lightweight materials to 5G and artificial intelligence — to unleash high-quality job creation in high-value manufacturing and technology." ("The Biden Plan To Ensure The Future Is 'Made In All Of America' By All Of America's Workers," Biden For President, Accessed 7/21/20)

  • Biden's "Plan" Calls For Tax Hikes To Fund The Spending. "Biden will ensure that corporate America finally pays their fair share in taxes, puts their workers and communities first rather than their shareholders, and respects their workers' power and voice in the workplace." ("The Biden Plan To Ensure The Future Is 'Made In All Of America' By All Of America's Workers," Biden For President, Accessed 7/21/20)

BIDEN HAS NOW PROPOSED NEARLY $6 TRILLION IN NEW GOVERNMENT SPENDING, WITH THE REAL COST MUCH HIGHER

("Climate," Biden For President, Accessed 12/13/19; "The Biden Plan To Invest In Middle Class Competitiveness," Biden For President, Accessed 2/26/20; Dan Diamond, "Biden unveils health care plan: Affordable Care Act 2.0," Politico, 7/15/19; Primary Care: Estimating Democratic Candidates' Health Plans," Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget, 2/26/20; "The Biden Plan For Education Beyond High School," Biden For President, Accessed 12/22/19; "Joe Biden's Preschool and K-12 Education Plan," Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget, Accessed 1/14/20; "The Biden Plan For Investing In Our Communities Through Housing, Biden For President, Accessed 3/10/20; "The Biden Plan To End The Opioid Crisis," Biden For President, Accessed 3/10/20; Tyler Pager, "Biden Proposes $775 Billion Plan Funded by Real Estate Taxes," Bloomberg, 7/21/20; Sean Sullivan and Jeff Stein, "Biden releases U.S.-centered economic plan, challenging Trump's 'America First' agenda," The Washington Post, 7/9/20; "The Biden Plan To Build A Modern, Sustainable Infrastructure And An Equitable Clean Energy Future." Biden For President, Accessed 7/21/20)

BIDEN IS DRASTICALLY UNDERREPORTING HOW MUCH HIS SPENDING SPREES WOULD COST

An Independent Estimate Of Biden's Healthcare Plan Found It Would Cost $2.25 Trillion, Triple What His Campaign Claimed

According To The Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget, Joe Biden's Healthcare Plan Would Cost $2.25 Trillion, And Potentially Up To $2.5 Trillion. "Vice President Joe Biden's health plan has a gross cost of $2.25 trillion and, incorporating offsets, would add $800 billion to deficits over ten years under our central estimate." (Primary Care: Estimating Democratic Candidates' Health Plans," Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget, 2/26/20)

Biden's Campaign Claims His Health Care Plan Would Cost $750 Billion Over The Next Decade. "The plan — which the campaign says will cost $750 billion over a decade, to be paid for by reversing some of the Trump administration's tax cuts — is less transformative than the 'Medicare for All' proposal advanced by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and supported by some other Democrats, which would effectively do away with private insurance and shift all Americans to government-run health coverage." (Dan Diamond, "Biden unveils health care plan: Affordable Care Act 2.0," Politico, 7/15/19)

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Biden's Plan To Eliminate Oil, Gas, And Coal From The Energy Grid Undercounts the Costs By $2.5 Trillion

Biden's Latest Climate Plan Calls For 100 Percent "Clean Energy" By 2035, Claiming He Will Spend A Staggering $2 Trillion Over Four Years To Make This Happen. "Joe Biden on Tuesday will call for setting a 100% clean-electricity standard by 2035 and investing $2 trillion over four years on clean energy, three people familiar with his plan said Monday." (Jennifer Epstein, Ari Natter, and Jennifer A Dlouhy, "Biden To Call For $2 Trillion In Spending On Clean Energy," Bloomberg, 7/13/20)

A Wood Mackenzie Study Found That 100 Percent De-Carbonization Of The U.S. Power Grid Would Actually Cost $4.5 Trillion. "We estimate the cost of full decarbonization of the US power grid at US$4.5 trillion, given the current state of technology." (Dan Shreve, "Deep Decarbonization: the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Question," Wood Mackenzie, 6/27/19)

  • This Would Cost The Average American Household $35,000, Or Roughly $2,300 Per Year Over 15 Years. "We estimate the cost of full decarbonization of the US power grid at US$4.5 trillion, given the current state of technology. That's nearly as much as what the country has spent, since 2001, on the war on terror. From a budgetary perspective, the cost is staggering at US$35,000 per household – nearly US$2,000 per year if assuming a 20-year plan." (Dan Shreve, "Deep Decarbonization: the Multi-Trillion-Dollar Question," Wood Mackenzie, 6/27/19)

TO PAY FOR ALL OF THIS, BIDEN WILL ENACT UNPRECEDENTED TAX HIKES

Even Before His New Plans, Biden Was Proposing An Unprecedented $4 Trillion In Tax Hikes Which Would Raise Taxes On 82 Percent Of Americans

According To The Tax Policy Center, Biden's Plans Call For Hiking Taxes By $4 Trillion Over The Next Decade. "Biden would increase income and payroll taxes on high-income individuals and increase income taxes on corporations. He would increase federal revenues by $4.0 trillion over the next decade. Under his plan, the highest-income households would see substantially larger tax increases than households in other income groups, both in dollar amounts and as share of their incomes." ("An Analysis of Former Vice President Biden's Tax Proposals," Tax Policy Center, 3/5/20)

According To The Tax Foundation, Biden's Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes By $3.8 Trillion Over Ten Years. "Based on the Tax Foundation General Equilibrium Model, we estimate that, on a conventional basis, Biden's plan would increase federal tax revenue by $3.8 trillion between 2021 and 2030 relative to current law." (Huaqun Li, Garrett Watson, and Taylor LaJoie, "Details And Analysis Of Former Vice President Biden's Tax Proposals," Tax Foundation, 4/29/20)

According To Penn Wharton Budget Model, Biden Would Raise Taxes By Up To $3.7 Trillion. "Relative to current law, PWBM projects that the updated Biden tax plan would raise between $3.1 trillion (including macroeconomic effects) and $3.7 trillion (not including macroeconomic effects) over fiscal years 2021-2030 while decreasing GDP by 0.6 percent in 2030 and 0.7 percent in 2050." ("The Updated Biden Tax Plan: Budgetary, Distributional, And Economic Effects," Penn Wharton, 3/10/20)

  • 82 Percent Of Americans Would See Their Taxes Increase. ("The Updated Biden Tax Plan: Budgetary, Distributional, And Economic Effects," Penn Wharton, 3/10/20)

Biden's Proposed $4 Trillion Tax Hike More Than Doubles What Clinton Proposed In 2016

During Her 2016 Campaign, Hillary Clinton Clinton Proposed $1.4 Trillion In New Taxes. "The analysis shows that the former vice president's tax agenda is well to the left of past Democratic presidential campaigns. The same group, for instance, projected that Hillary Clinton's 2016 tax proposal would have increased taxes by $1.4 trillion over a decade." (Jay Heflin, "Biden Tax Plan Would Raise $4 Trillion, More Than Twice The Hike Proposed By Clinton In 2016," Washington Examiner, 3/5/20)

Donald J. Trump, Trump Campaign Press Release - Nothing New In Biden's "Plan" – Just More Taxes And Spending Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/345781

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