WASHINGTON D.C. – Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-WV) recently published an op-ed in WV News titled, "President Biden Is Building Back Broke". In the op-ed, she outlined the ways President Biden's social spending package would negatively affect West Virginians.
Congresswoman Carol Miller: President Biden Is Building Back Broke
November 21, 2021
President Biden's first 10 months in office have been riddled with disasters. From leaving Americans behind in Afghanistan to rising inflation and everything in between, now, the president is trying to increase taxes on hardworking Americans — including West Virginia workers, businesses, and families.
The president's $4.5 trillion social spending package, the Build Back Better Act, is the latest example of his radical tax-and-spend agenda.
At the beginning of this year, Democrats passed their bloated COVID-19 relief package. That redundant bill, which liberals rammed through Congress despite the trillions of dollars in bipartisan aid passed the previous year to keep America afloat during the pandemic, opened the floodgates for their costly agenda that's unfolding in Washington today.
The Build Back Better Act comes at a time when West Virginians are already feeling the consequences of Democrats' irresponsible spending. Families are paying more at the gas pump and in the grocery store as inflation skyrockets and supply chains fail.
Democrats claim the Build Back Better Act will cost the taxpayer zero dollars and will not raise inflation, but that simply is not true.
Just like with inflation and supply chain shortages, middle-class Americans will be hit the hardest. A better name for this bill would be the "Build Back Broke Act."
The Build Back Broke Act proposed by President Biden would raise taxes on over 75% of middle-class families in the next year, and up to 95% of middle-class families long term.
It also includes $420 billion in tax hikes on West Virginia small businesses. It would raise the corporate tax rate higher than Communist China's! As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, I am on the frontlines of the fight against these disastrous tax hikes.
This legislation would reverse the successful Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that created a boom in jobs and wages and led to the strongest economy in a generation.
After congressional Republicans passed this tax reform in 2017, the corporate tax rate was lowered from 35% to 21%. As a result, the U.S. added 5.3 million new jobs, the median income reached an all-time high of $68,703, and the unemployment rate fell to 3.5% — the lowest in 50 years.
President Biden wants to repeal the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which would cost the U.S. 6 million jobs over the next decade and send investment back overseas.
President Biden has also kneecapped West Virginia's energy industry by canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline, a decision that took away hundreds of West Virginia jobs and thousands nationally.
He proposed a ban on domestic fracking and ordered a moratorium on oil and natural gas leases on federal lands.
These decisions, coupled with his call for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 10 other oil-exporting nations, known collectively as OPEC+, to produce more oil while simultaneously stifling domestic producers, represent one of the greatest threats to America's energy independence and national security.
The Build Back Broke Act goes further by implementing counterproductive Green New Deal policies, like the Natural Gas Tax, that will kill 90,000 jobs and increase the cost for West Virginians to heat their homes and keep the lights on.
Southern West Virginia is home to abundant natural resources that can power the world, like coal, oil, and natural gas. These resources must be protected through increased investment in innovation, not destroyed by bad policies from the left.
In addition to limiting West Virginia's energy industry and raising taxes, the Build Back Broke Act includes provisions that could limit seniors' access to low-cost generic medicines and new life-saving cures. This would enable the government to set the price of prescription drugs — stifling innovation and resulting in fewer cures.
I introduced an amendment to ensure these provisions do not go into effect until the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirms passage of this legislation will not result in fewer life-saving cures or access to generic medications. Democrats rejected this amendment, making clear this legislation will not only bankrupt our nation, but it will also cost lives.
The Build Back Broke Act would negatively affect all facets of our day-to-day lives. I am working hard alongside my Republican Ways and Means Committee colleagues to push back against this radical bill.
As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lot of work to be done to rebuild and revitalize West Virginia. However, President Biden's plan won't build us back better — it will build us back broke.
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Original source can be found here.
