Biden Seeks To Set Himself Up As Fiscal Moderate With $3.2T Tax Plan To Help Pay For Health Care Initiatives
Former Vice President Joe Biden pitched a tax plan that includes a more moderate corporate tax increase in contrast with his progressive rivals. Biden “is committed to being transparent with the American people about the smart and effective ways he’d pay for the bold changes he’s proposing," his campaign said. In other news, "Medicare for All" continues to be a landmine for Democrats. How did it get that way?
The Washington Post:
Biden Releases $3.2 Trillion Tax Plan, Highlighting Divisions With Sanders And Warren
Former vice president Joe Biden released a plan Wednesday to raise $3.2 trillion in taxes over 10 years to pay for his domestic spending proposals, including on health care and climate, as he seeks to cast himself as the fiscal moderate in the Democratic presidential primary amid pressure from his liberal rivals. (Stein, 12/4)
The Wall Street Journal:
Joe Biden Proposes $1 Trillion In New Corporate Taxes
Until now, Mr. Biden has largely confined his ideas to rolling back parts of the 2017 Republican tax cut and pursuing policies that the Democratic Obama administration, in which he served as vice president, couldn’t get through Congress. The new proposals come atop Mr. Biden’s previous calls for tax increases, which would push the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, tax unrealized capital gains at death and push the top rate on individuals to 39.6% from 37%. (Rubin, 12/4)
Politico:
Biden Proposes $3.2T In Tax Increases, Less Than Democratic Rivals
Biden’s camp said he was leveling with voters about how he would pay for new policies aimed at combating climate change, and expanding access to higher education and health care, after he accused rivals of falling short in that area. “He believes that being forthright with voters about how plans would be financed is critical to building the public support necessary to beat Donald Trump, help more Democrats win up and down the ballot, and then pass legislation through Congress,” said Stef Feldman, Biden’s policy director. (Becker, 12/4)
NPR:
Wealth Tax: What It Is And How It Would Work
A few weeks ago, Elizabeth Warren made huge news with her plan to finance "Medicare for All." But as part of it, the Massachusetts senator made a big change to one of her other major policy goals: she boosted the size of the wealth tax she wants to impose on the very rich: The top rate went from 3% to 6%, giving her trillions more dollars in theoretical revenue to fund the sweeping program. (Kurtzleben, 12/5)
Politico:
Medicare For All: The Most Consequential Moment Of The 2020 Primary
Kamala Harris was hosting a town hall in her hometown of Oakland, Calif., two years ago when she made an announcement that set off a mad scramble in the U.S. Senate. “Here, I’ll break some news,” Harris told hundreds of people packed into the sanctuary at Beebe Memorial Church on Aug. 30. “I intend to co-sponsor the ‘Medicaid for All’ bill because it’s just the right thing to do,” she said, flubbing the name of the proposal. (Thompson, Otterbein and Ollstein, 12/5)
Vox:
The Democrats’ Medicare Mess
One lesson of the past few weeks is that the Medicare-for-all debate has become a minefield for Democrats — and it’s not clear that any candidate has a safe path through it. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has dropped 14 points since October 8, when she briefly led the Democratic field in the RealClearPolitics polling average. Most attribute her decline to her handling of Medicare-for-all — the financing plan she released made her the target of attacks from the moderates, and then the transition plan she released, which envisions a robust public option in the first year of her presidency and only moving to Medicare-for-all in year three, left single-payer advocates unnerved about her commitment to the cause. (Klein, 12/4)
The New York Times:
What Is Voters’ Highest Priority? There’s A Way To Find Out
Republicans in Congress have tried to discredit the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry by arguing that it distracts Congress from its real duties. One Republican-aligned group recently released a poll of 1,600 voters in four congressional districts that suggested Americans “prioritize issues over impeachment.” But when we look at data on revealed priorities from people all over the country, we see something different. In reality, there are few things facing the nation that anyone, regardless of party, believes are a higher priority right now. Most people would give up their preferred outcomes on health care, the environment or taxes if it meant getting what they want on impeachment. (Vavreck, Sides and Tausanovitch, 12/5)
