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GOP’s Crapo cites study to say ‘reckless’ Schumer-Manchin deal to raise taxes on earners under $400K

August 1, 2022 | | Print Article

Citing data from the nonpartisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), Republicans on the Senate Committee on Finance has revealed what many Americans already assumed: Democrats, namely Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), are lying when they say the deal struck on health care and energy won’t raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 per year.

In fact, the JCT found that taxpayers earning less than $200,000 in 2023 will face a $16.7 billion tax hike, with those making between $200,000 and $500,00 facing another $14.1 billion on top of that staggering figure.

“The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates the Democrats’ latest reckless tax-and-spend proposal will increase taxes on millions of Americans across every income bracket, with more than half of the tax increases on Americans making less than $400,000 per year,” said a statement released Saturday from Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).

Crapo, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, requested the analysis from JCT.

“While Republicans’ pro-growth tax reform in 2017 reduced tax rates for all Americans in a way that increased the progressivity of the tax code and produced historic gains in job and wage growth, the Democrats’ approach to tax reform means increasing taxes on low- and middle-income Americans to fund their partisan Green New Deal,” he stated.

According to Crapo, the “Inflation Reduction Act” is “mislabeled.”

“Americans are already experiencing the consequences of Democrats’ reckless economic policies,” he said.  “The mislabeled ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ will do nothing to bring the economy out of stagnation and recession, but it will raise billions of dollars in taxes on Americans making less than $400,000.”

JCT found that the proposed act represents “a nearly $17 billion tax targeted solidly at low- and middle-income earners next year, amidst stagflation.”

“The $17 billion hit alone is confirmation that the Biden pledge to not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 is shattered by the latest tax-and-spend bill,” the joint committee reported.

The JCT data shows it is likely that “at least half” of the total amount of new tax revenue raised in 2023 “would come from those earning under $400,000,” and over the ten-year window of the measure, “the average tax rate for nearly every single income category would increase.”

“By 2031, when the new green energy credits and subsidies provide an even greater benefit to those at higher incomes, those earning below $400,000 are projected to bear as much as two-thirds of the burden of the additional tax revenue collected that year,” JCT found.

The analysis, says Crapo, explains why Dems are trying to rush the bill through the Senate.

“The more this bill is analyzed by impartial experts, the more we can see Democrats are trying to sell the American people a bill of goods,” Crapo said. “Non-partisan analysts are confirming this bill raises taxes on the middle class and produces no meaningful deficit reduction when gimmicks are removed and the full cost is accounted for.”

“It’s no wonder this bill, which was drafted behind closed doors, is being rushed through the Senate at record pace,” he stated.

Naturally, Democrats are rejecting the GOP’s claims.

Ashley Schapitl, spokesperson for Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) insists that families “will not pay one penny in additional taxes under this bill,” according to Politico.

What’s more, says Schapitl, the JCT analysis is incomplete because ““it doesn’t include the benefits to middle-class families of making health insurance premiums and prescription drugs more affordable.”

“The same goes for clean energy incentives for families,” she added.

On CNN Sunday, Manchin asserted the bill is “not putting a burden on any taxpayers whatsoever.”

“I agree with my Republican friends, we should not and we did not increase taxes,” he stated.

Melissa Fine
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