Biden’s modest corporate tax increases to fund public infrastructure projects are wildly popular — except among CEOs.
The
wailing by those who run corporate America is not for the plight of the
workaday families who’ve seen their incomes stagnate and even plummet to zero
during the pandemic. Rather, this chorus of woe comes from powerful plutocratic
interests that have been enjoying windfall profits.
Why?
Because, they cry, that meanie in the White House, Joe Biden, intends to
modestly hike their corporate tax rate.
But
wait… Didn’t Trump and the GOP Congress slash the corporate share of our
nation’s upkeep nearly in half just four years ago, shifting the burden to the
middle class and poor? Yes. And didn’t they promise that those cuts would
create millions of new jobs? Yes again.
But
instead, corporations got richer and working stiffs got shafted.
Still, here they come again, howling that raising corporate taxes would crash the stock market. Well, the day Biden announced his plan, stock prices did fall… by less than 1 percent. The next day, they bounced right back.
Moreover,
those are crocodile tears the rich are shedding. They know that — as Biden
himself makes clear — his proposed uptick in their tax share “is not going to
affect their standard of living at all. Not a little tiny bit.”
They’ll
still have their two or three big houses, private jets, and yachts. But, with
them paying just a bit more toward the common good, our country will be able to
reinvest in society’s physical and human infrastructure, making America
stronger and fairer for all.
That’s
why there are broad and deep public majorities — even among
Republicans — for Biden’s infrastructure plan and the corporate taxes to pay for it. For more information
go to AmericansForTaxFairness.org.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. Distributed by OtherWords.org.