Biden’s Infrastructure Plan a “Trojan Horse” for a MAJOR Tax Increase

"P20210121AS-0485" (United States government work) by The White House

On Wednesday, Sen. Mitch McConnell called Biden’s $2 Trillion infrastructure plan a “Trojan Horse” for a MAJOR tax increase. 

Speaking in Erlanger, Kentucky, last Wednesday, the Republican leader raised concerns about the level of national debt that the Biden administration is allowing as well as the reversal of corporate tax cut that the Republican previously passed last. 2017. 

McConnell told reporters, “It’s like a Trojan horse.” He added, “It’s called infrastructure, but inside the Trojan horse, it’s going to be more borrowed money and massive tax increases on all the productive parts of our economy.”

The infrastructure plan that Biden is proposing would cost the country $2 trillion over eight years. According to him, this amount will be paid over the course of 15 years by raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. 

The Republican senator signaled that he is unlikely to support Biden’s plan due to the consequences of tax increases as well as additional spending that the country will incur. 

Previously, McConnell also opposed Biden’s major legislative initiative, the $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which was passed even without the GOP support.

Labeled as the American Jobs Plan, the White House stated that Biden’s plan is “once-in-a-century capital investment” in U.S. infrastructure that will create “millions” of good-paying jobs and position America to “out-compete” China by spending around 1% of GDP per year over the course of eight years. 

Among the key features of the plan is modernizing 20,000 miles of highway, repairing 10 economically significant bridges and 10,000 small bridges, eliminating all lead pipes in drinking water systems, modernizing schools and upgrading veteran’s hospitals, and expanding access to high-speed broadband. 

Biden’s proposal also targets allocating $100 billion to workforce development programs aimed at underserved groups and students and creating better-paying jobs for care workers. 

In total, the Biden administration intends to spend over $650 billion on repairing roads and bridges, $300 billion on housing infrastructure, $300 billion on reviving U.S. manufacturing, $400 billion on care for the elderly and disabled, $400 billion on clean-energy credits, as well as an unspecified amount on broadband, water systems, and other measures.

To afford this expensive legislation, Biden proposed a move that he called as “Made in America Tax Plan,” this plan would increase the corporate tax rate from the previous 21% to 28%. This would also raise the minimum tax on multinational corporations to 21% and “calculate it on a country-by-country basis, so it hits profits in tax havens,” alongside several other efforts to eliminate perceived loopholes in the corporate tax code.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night, the Business Roundtable stated that although it supports the overall idea of investing in the country’s infrastructure, it would oppose any effort by the Biden administration to increase the corporate tax rate in order to fund the massive $2 Trillion infrastructure plan.

Joshua Bolten, Business Roundtable President, and CEO said in a statement, “Policymakers should avoid creating new barriers to job creation and economic growth, particularly during the recovery.”

On multiple occasions, the White House has indicated that Biden is open to discussing revenue-raising methods with lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties. 

Biden administration officials have also dismissed concerns that raising the corporate tax rate would do detrimental effects on the country’s economic growth. 

The White House is expected to unveil the second part of Biden’s recovery agenda. Said agenda will focus on the cost of child care, health care, and education. 

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