[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 187 (Monday, October 25, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7324-S7325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the biggest tax hikes in 50 years; 
the biggest peacetime tax hikes ever recorded in American history--that 
is what Washington Democrats are cooking up. Our Democratic colleagues 
and President Biden are behind closed doors, dreaming up creative new 
ways to grab literally historic amounts of the American people's money.
  Remember, the same socialist spending plans that Democrats claim cost 
zero dollars somehow also need staggering new tax hikes to pay for 
them. So, even with significant inflation, runaway gas prices, and 
runaway energy costs already hitting American families in their 
pocketbooks, Washington Democrats have spent months dreaming up new 
cash grabs for the IRS.
  Democrats have talked about massively hiking business taxes, to a 
level that would leave industries paying more than their competitors in 
communist China. They have talked about jacking up marginal income tax 
rates in ways that would hammer small businesses and family businesses 
that file as passthroughs. They have talked about adding a second death 
tax to give the IRS an even bigger bite out of family farms. They have 
even promised something that our country has never seen before: a new 
IRS surveillance dragnet where the IRS would get to track ordinary 
citizens' inflows and outflows. Banks and credit unions would be forced 
to hand over Americans' private information to the IRS. The Democrats 
are so desperate to shake down the American people for money that they 
are proposing to essentially treat everybody--everybody--like they are 
under audit.
  For months now, our Democratic colleagues have been toying with one 
staggering tax increase after another. We have seen one disappointing 
jobs report after another, one historic inflation report after another, 
but Democrats are still convinced that the biggest peacetime tax hikes 
on record in American history are just what the doctor ordered.
  As one news report explained, ``the scramble has opened the door to 
potential tax proposals [that] progressives could only have dreamed 
of''--just dreamed of--``just a few months ago.''
  The far left is officially calling the shots, and that is where the 
latest new craziness comes into the picture. If public reporting has it 
right, the Democrats are so desperate to raise taxes that they are now 
proposing to tax money the American people haven't even made yet. Let 
me say that again. They are now proposing to tax money the American 
people haven't even made yet. Yes, you heard me right. So much for the 
quaint idea that you had to actually make money first before the IRS 
could tax it. Now Democrats want to tax money you haven't made yet.
  There are already capital gains taxes that Americans pay when they 
cash out an investment, when they sell what they have been holding and 
realize actual gains. Now Democrats want to go much further and tax 
certain citizens just because their holdings have gone up in value, 
regardless of whether they have actually sold them and made any money.
  Get this: In parallel with taxing people on hypothetical gains they 
haven't realized, they apparently also want to hand out tax breaks for 
hypothetical losses--losses--that people haven't realized. So they want 
to tax gains they haven't realized and hand out tax breaks for losses 
people haven't realized.
  This harebrained scheme would have the IRS penalizing people who have 
invested wisely and compensating people who have invested poorly, all 
independent of whether they have actually made or lost any money. Let's 
just think of the unintended consequences, like the fact that, in the 
event of a market crash or financial crisis, the government would be on 
the hook for massive automatic tax cuts for billionaires or the fact 
that some experts suggest this new scheme would drive the wealthiest 
Americans away from stocks and bonds, push them into other tax 
shelters, and thereby reduce the growth in ordinary Americans' 
investments that households rely on for college funds and 401(k)s.
  Or the fact that new, innovative entrepreneurs whose startups begin 
to grow in value could now get hit with a crushing tax bill long before 
their company is actually cash-flow positive. The next visionary 
startup founder could have to sell away ownership prematurely just to 
pay Uncle Sam.
  Our Democratic colleagues have become so tax hike happy that they are 
throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. Now they are talking 
about rewiring the entire economy

[[Page S7325]]

after a couple of days' discussions on the back of an envelope. It is a 
massive and untested change that has not received any--any--meaningful 
study or scrutiny.
  Even the Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is 
complaining:

       It hasn't been marked up, and there's been no vetting of 
     it.

  Our Democratic colleague, the senior Senator from Montana, says:

       Anytime you get into stuff that's not proven in the tax 
     code, it becomes a bit dangerous.

  The senior Senator from Virginia says:

       My fear is that we're going to try some innovative new 
     ideas and if we don't have time to develop them . . . we 
     could mess some of this up.

  No kidding, Madam President.
  This is just the latest saga in this long parade of Democratic tax 
hikes. Nonpartisan analysts have shown that various aspects of the 
Democrats' plans would shatter President Biden's promise to leave the 
middle class alone. I guarantee you, the middle class will get hit.
  When Republicans had power, we prioritized giving Americans a big tax 
cut. We wanted families to keep more of their own money and make 
American businesses more competitive all around the world.
  Democrats want the opposite--historic tax hikes. So families keep 
less, Washington gets more, and our competitors, like China, can pop 
the champagne.

                          ____________________