President Biden has proposed to finance his $4 trillion American Jobs and Families Plans by raising taxes exclusively on corporations and households that earn above $400,000 — the top 1.5 percent of taxpayers. Biden is right that the rich should pay more than they currently do given the staggering income inequality in America that’s been made worse by the COVID pandemic.
Almost 60 percent of Americans support funding Biden’s spending plans with his proposed tax increases — seven times the share that supports debt-financing them. But while taxing the rich is smart policy and politics, funding America’s future and realizing Biden’s policy vision will also require asking more taxpayers to contribute to the public good.
