Explaining a newly leaked House Ways and Means Committee plan to raise taxes by $3,000,000,000,000, a Wall Street Journal news article reports, “Rep. Richard Neal (D., Mass.), the committee chairman, has said that detailing tax-increase plans too soon can give too much time for opposition to build.”

Neal had explained his reticence to The New York Times in an interview by comparing his behavior to a man trying to seduce a woman into marriage, postponing full disclosure until the wedding guests are seated and the bride has been walked down the aisle. “I’m likely to hold off on the pay-fors until we are at the altar,” Neal said.

Legislators with more respect for the deliberative process than Neal has may want to dash for the chapel exit before it’s too late. What does it tell you about the Democratic leadership’s view of the American public that they need to keep their plans secret until the last minute, for fear that the public might figure out what they are doing? Imagine how it would feel to be engaged to Neal, without knowing precisely what bad news he’s planning to dump on you once the wedding ceremony is underway.

The details that have escaped so far make it easy to understand why Neal was so eager to keep them hidden from the public.

The most dismaying aspect is the brazenness with which it violates President Joe Biden’s repeated promise not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 a year. As recently as September 3, Biden said, “Here’s the thing you need to know: We’re going to deliver these investments without raising taxes one cent on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.” He’s been making that claim over and over again: A June 28 op-ed: “Critically, we are going to get all of this done without raising taxes one single cent on Americans who earn less than $400,000 a year.”

The details of the Neal plan, if implemented, would make a liar out of Biden on a level reminiscent of George H.W. Bush’s betrayal of his “read my lips” tax pledge.

(Read more)

You may also like

There is something wrong with Feed URL