A chief member of the Biden administration said that the White House would combat historically high deficits by raising taxes this week. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Fox News this week that the administration would seek an increase in taxes on high earners, echoing a promise by President Joe Biden during the State of the Union address Thursday.
The Transportation Secretary told host Neil Cavuto that the president would “continue down the path of deficit reduction that he has achieved in his presidency.”
Cavuto cited the significant increase in debt since Biden took office in 2021.
Despite increases to the deficit, Buttigieg said that the Biden White House had accomplished “meaningful deficit reduction than we’ve seen in quite a while” but added that there was “more work to be done.”
He said “you’re never supposed to even use the t-word, tax, in an address. But he pointed out a way to do it that would not touch anybody making less than $400,000 a year, which is something that most Americans, if not most members of Congress, support.”
During the address before Congress, Biden said that he would seek an increase in corporate minimum taxes and reduce deductions for some forms of compensation and the use of corporate jets.
“I’m a capitalist. You want to make a million, or millions of bucks? That’s great. Just pay your fair share in taxes,” the president said.
The administration seeks to raise the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%. He also called for an increase to the 15% minimum corporate tax for companies that report more than $1 billion in profits.
The White House also seeks an increase in the corporate stock buyback tax.
As part of the tax plan, the administration is seeking to lower deductions for corporate compensation packages paid in excess of $1 million. Biden also sought a reduction in writeoffs for using corporate jets.
Biden, already an inflation villain, now wants to hike the corporate tax rate | @TianaTheFirst https://t.co/c9aiGovz6h https://t.co/c9aiGovz6h
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) March 8, 2024
Biden called for a minimum 25% tax for those with wealth above $100 million, with the president saying that no “billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, a nurse.”
