American Families Plan

Floor Speech

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Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, Washington has been on a dizzying spending spree over the past couple of months, passing trillion-dollar bills right and left. It is nearly impossible to calculate the total cost. And now, President Biden and the Democrats in Congress are proposing several trillion dollars in even more spending.

With tax day approaching on May 17, the time has come to pay the bills for all of these government giveaways. And guess who will be forced to pay for it? Well, of course, it is the American people.

Right now, Democrats are hoping to finance their ongoing spending splurge by increasing taxes on hard-working Americans across this country. One of the key tax hikes included in the President's so-called American Families Plan would hit farm families especially hard.

The Biden proposal would eliminate a protection that allows Iowa farm families to pass down their assets to the next generation without a tax penalty. The Farm Bureau says the end result would be a significant tax increase on our farmers and ranchers.

This is the last thing the ag sector needs as they continue on their economic recovery. While hiking taxes on our farmers who help feed and fuel our Nation every single day, my Democratic colleagues also want to give a tax break to high-income coastal elites.

And don't just take my word for it. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, the leader of the socialist squad in the House, says the Democrats' proposal to repeal the cap on the State and local tax deduction is ``a gift to billionaires'' and ``a giveaway to the rich.'' Never in a million years did I ever think that I would agree with AOC, but there is no arguing on that particular point.

Those aren't the only parts of the Democrats' tax strategy that make no sense. According to recent reports, their demand to raise taxes on capital gains could actually cost the government money. The calculation is that if rates get too high, people will just stop selling their assets.

Well, here is an idea: Rather than taking more of Iowans' hard-earned dollars to pay for their plans, maybe Democrats could stop their reckless spending. But let's be honest, that probably won't happen. They are the party of tax and spend, after all.

Rather than raising taxes, my friends across the aisle could start by collecting the $380 billion in taxes that is already owed, but not paid, every year. Current and retired government employees alone owe over $3 billion in delinquent taxes. Why should Iowans be paying the salaries and benefits of those who aren't even paying their own tax bill? They shouldn't. And that is why I am helping lead an effort that would collect the billions in back taxes owed by Federal employees.

Another solution: We could bring in billions of dollars by closing a tax loophole that literally goes all the way to China. If the communist regime was treated the same as a U.S. citizen, it would be required to pay taxes on interest from our debt to China.

But as a result of a three decades old treaty, communist China is exempt from paying taxes on these profits. Instead of increasing taxes on farm families and working Americans, the Biden administration should collect the hundreds of billions of dollars that is already owed to us and close the loophole that treats communist China better than our own U.S. citizens.

Right now, to pay off your annual Federal tax bill, you would have to set aside every penny you earned from January 1 until mid-April, every single penny.

Folks, Washington should be working for you, but it turns out you are working for Washington, and you can't even claim the government as a dependent on your tax return. This plot to pickpocket taxpayers to pay for the left's unpopular progressive policies is bad for our Nation's economic recovery and even worse for working Americans who get stuck with the bill.

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