Fine print of Biden's 2024-25 budget is frightening
On March 11th, more than a month after federal law requires, President Biden finally submitted his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025 to Congress. Following the same tax-and-spend playbook that sent inflation skyrocketing, the Biden budget calls for $7.3 trillion in federal spending every year, includes tax hikes on families, farmers, and businesses to the tune of $5.5 trillion, and endorses the worst excesses of President Biden’s failed economic policies. It would also add trillions to our nearly $35-trillion national debt over the next decade and leave our country with a $1.8-trillion deficit for the 2025 fiscal year. This is not a plan for prosperity; it’s an outline for financial catastrophe that must be rejected and defeated in its entirety.
But, while the $7.3-trillion topline price tag is bad enough, it’s the fine print that has me most concerned. Absent any consultation with Republicans, President Biden’s bloated budget targets the fundamental pillars of the American economy. Our families who work hard to create a better life for their children, our farmers who feed and fuel our country, and our businesses that create jobs and spur economic growth.
At a deeper glance, it appears that the Biden administration is not satisfied with the $80 billion that Democrats already approved through the so-called Inflation Reduction Act to hire an army of 87,000 IRS agents tasked with auditing American families no matter their financial status. President Biden’s budget requests another $104.3 billion to beef up the IRS and harass hardworking taxpayers who are desperately trying to provide for their families as inflation remains elevated and gas prices are once again rising. The Biden administration also wants to drain Americans’ retirement savings and bank accounts through an unconstitutional wealth tax, which would pinpoint workers’ investments and redistribute dollars back to Uncle Sam. Applying a tax on unrealized gains not only opens a can of worms that would expose American taxpayers to additional tax schemes by the IRS, but also punish responsible investors who are planning for retirement or putting money aside for a rainy day.
President Biden’s budget also represents an intentional attack on American farmers and producers. For starters, this proposal would largely restrict the use of stepped-up basis and cap like-kind exchanges, both of which help producers purchase new equipment, keep American farmland out of the hands of Communist China, and, for the sake of our farming traditions in rural America, allow farms to be passed on to the next generation without facing a massive tax bill from the federal government. Naturally, President Biden and his liberal advisors – who have already imposed radical WOTUS regulations and electric-vehicle mandates on our farmers – don’t have a clue about the hard work and sacrifice required for farming operations to be successful.
The destructive changes to stepped-up basis further equate to a second “death tax,” which imposes an unfair and costly tax on the transfer of property, land, and other assets from a deceased family member to heirs of family farms and small businesses. It’s why I introduced legislation to permanently repeal the “death tax.” Families should not have to shut down the farm while they grieve the loss of a loved one just because the federal government saddles our producers with an insane and unfair tax.
The final group that bears the brunt of President Biden’s unserious budget is our business community. This proposal seeks to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and impose a 21% global minimum tax on American companies as outlined in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s ridiculous Pillar Two plan, which would make our businesses the world’s piggybank. It would also increase the top marginal tax rate for small businesses to nearly 40% and hike the net investment income tax (NIIT) by 32% from 3.8% to 5%. This would disproportionately impact our nation’s small businesses who hire and employ a majority of our national workforce, and ultimately force these job creators to cut costs and decrease the payroll. Finally, this misguided budget targets American energy development by saddling our energy producers with $37 billion in taxes. The Biden administration’s unfounded disdain for our energy sector will only result in higher gas prices for our families and greater reliance on our foreign adversaries to power our nation.
President Biden can try to sugarcoat his budget with talking points, but the facts are clear. The fine print of his $7.3-trillion budget spells disaster for our families, farmers, and businesses. To grow our economy and protect taxpayers, we must stop printing money out of thin air, borrowing money that we can’t afford, and spending money that we don’t have.
A good place to start is throwing this budget in the trash where it belongs.
This op-ed was originally published in the Northwest Iowa Review on May 1, 2024.