Democrats have cut President Biden’s social spending package from $3.5 trillion to almost $1.9 trillion, and they are also working to raise funds to pay for it.
The lawmakers are considering a new tax on billionaires that would to help cover the legislation’s cost, which Biden’s administration has insisted will be paid for via revenue and not through deficit spending.
The proposal would target taxpayers with more than $1 billion in assets or those who have an income of more than 100 million dollars three years in a row. This would affect about 700 of the nation’s wealthiest people.
“In a package that’s supposed to be about giving everybody a shot to get ahead, it would be a big mistake, from both a policy and political perspective, not to ask billionaires to pay a fair share,” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden said in a statement.
“The Billionaires Income Tax is about fairness and showing the American people taxes aren’t mandatory for them and optional for the wealthiest people in the country. No working person in this country thinks it’s right that billionaires can pay no taxes for years on end, and sometimes never at all,” the statement continued.
