President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington, as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., applaud.
Pool | Via Reuters
President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, marking the halfway point of his tenure. It was an opportunity for him to highlight his administration’s achievements to date, as well as set the tone for how he hopes the next two, possibly more, years go.
Biden has been upbeat on his economic policies after recent reports showed near-record low unemployment and strong job growth, but his speech exhibited his broader ambitions to reshape the economy into one that grows “from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down.”
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Return of the billionaire tax?
Biden renewed his call for levying a tax on billionaires and corporate stock buybacks to reduce the federal deficit.
“The tax system is not fair; it’s not fair,” Biden said. “The idea that in 2020, 55 of the largest corporations in America, of Fortune 500, made $40 billion in profits and paid $0 in federal taxes? $0? Folks, it’s simply not fair.”
The idea was popularized by progressives like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in the 2020 campaign. Biden has vowed to not raise taxes on Americans earning under $400,000 annually.
“Now because of the law I signed, billion-dollar companies have to pay a minimum of 15%, God love them,” Biden said to jeers by Democrats. “15%! That’s less than a nurse pays!”
Biden previously proposed a 20% tax on billionaires in March of last year as part of his federal budget. In Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Biden called on Congress to “finish the job.” The proposal did not gain much traction then and is unlikely to go anywhere in the Republican-controlled House.
War on ‘junk fees’
Biden continued his crusade against unnecessary “junk…
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