Have you ever found it weird how federal tax cuts always “expire,” whereas tax hikes last forever? It’s not by accident, it’s by design.
In looking at what the Biden-Harris administration has done in the past, and what she admits she wants to do in the future, there are only two certainties in life: death and Kamala Harris planning to raise the hell out of your taxes.
There is a Rorschach test for every American on tax policy. Everyone views income in one of two ways: as belonging to the person who earned it, or as all belonging to the government, which allows the person who earned it to keep some of it.
Republicans take the former view and consequently advocate for tax rates that let you keep as much as possible. Democrats tend to view all money as belonging to government by default, but they will graciously allow you to keep some of it.
Tax cuts expire because, even though cuts in tax rates lead to increased economic activity and sometimes even higher tax revenues, the perverted way in which bills are scored in Congress (their “cost” determined) ignores that economic reality. As a consequence (and also because of budget reconciliation rules), cowardly politicians support tax cuts only if they “expire,” in order to artificially lower the “cost” of letting workers keep more of their own money.
Vice President Kamala Harris has borrowed a page from President Biden in promising that no one making less than $400,000 will pay any more in taxes. She has also proposed “tax cuts” as part of her campaign.
But these promises are about as phony as Tim Walz’s official bio.
For one thing, what Harris is touting as “tax cuts” are anything but. She has proposed expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is actually a form of welfare. It gives back to low-income workers more money than they pay in taxes from their paychecks throughout the year. It’s not called “welfare” because Democrats wanted to remove the stigma and make it easier for Congress to increase welfare payments without arousing taxpayers’ ire.
Harris has also proposed a child tax credit of $6,000 for the child’s first year. After that, you’re on your own, I guess. (It’s actually kind of funny if you think about it, because the “childless cat ladies” are the ones being punished here.) She also proposes more credits for buying a home and buying into ObamaCare, plus a larger possible up-front deduction if you have more than $5,000 in expenses starting a small business.
If you notice one thing about Kamala Harris’s tax cuts, it is that they aren’t tax cuts at all. They are all credits or deductions that taxpayers in certain very niche situations can claim if they do what a Harris administration approves of.
The chosen people in this case are first time homebuyers, new parents, very low-income individuals and business owners with large up-front expenses. These get to keep more of what they earn. On the other side, the people getting nothing are current homeowners, renters and those who don’t have new babies.
Tax credits and deductions complicate the tax code, and make it so difficult to do your taxes. But more importantly, they are a means of control, not of liberation. “Do what we say and you can keep more of what you earn” may sound like a good deal, but only if you already wanted to perform the favored activities. If you didn’t, then it is a manipulation.
Along the lines of manipulation, Democrats also don’t view tax increases as tax increases when they are the ones imposing them.
For example, after campaigning against former President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs as a “Trump sales tax,” the Biden-Harris administration is doing something almost identical, changing the rules on goods from China in a way that will cost American consumers more money.
As the New York Times has noted, the rule they are looking to change currently exempts imported shipments worth less than $800 from U.S. taxes and tariffs. If this changes, then those items you buy through Temu and Shein will cost more, because the vendors will pass the increased costs to customers.
That may not mean much to you, but the entire appeal of these platforms is their low prices. Remove that, and you change people’s behavior — another manipulation.
But here’s the worst part: Even as she promises tax cuts that aren’t tax cuts, Harris has promised an actual tax hike. She says she will let the 2017 Trump tax cuts expire at the end of next year.
That means that tax rates on everyone will rise across the board, and the standard deduction, which roughly 90 percent of U.S. taxpayers take, will dramatically shrink. This will mean higher taxes even for the very poor — even for people who make far, far less than $400,000 per year.
Of course, Harris won’t call it a tax hike when she effectively cuts your standard deduction by one-third and raises your marginal rate by 1 to 4 percentage points. But make no mistake: Either through direct action or omission, Harris is going to raise your taxes if she wins.
Derek Hunter is host of the Derek Hunter Podcast and a former staffer for the late Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.).