Grover Norquist: Biden's Tax Hike Plans Moving in Wrong Direction

The White House's moves to raise taxes to make up for the economic toll the coronavirus pandemic has taken on the country is a move in the wrong direction that could cost Americans more money than ever, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist said Thursday. 

"At the national level, (Joe) Biden ran for president saying he wanted $4 trillion in tax increases," Norquist said on Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria." "That's wiping out all of the Trump Republican tax cuts, and doubling it."

In addition, Biden "wants to double the capital gains tax which will slow economic growth," bringing it back to rates that have not been seen since President Jimmy Carter was in office, Norquist said. 

"He wants to take the corporate rate from 21% up higher than what China takes in taxes," said Norquist, adding that back when Biden was vice president, China was taking a 25% tax on corporate income and the United States was taking 35%. 

"You were better off investing in China for aftertax returns," he said. "Biden is committed to going back to that, either up to 28 or 35, he's unclear sometimes, but always higher than China's. Those changes in incentives will slow economic growth."

The problem with Biden's spending plan, Norquist added, is that it "wastes a lot of money."

"State and local governments have more money today than they did a year ago," said Norquist. "They didn't stop collecting sales taxes, didn't stop collecting property taxes even from businesses they shut down, so they've kept themselves largely whole. But they want all this more money in blue states to make up for the damage they did, but (not with) the virus."

Blue states, he added, have continued with "spending patterns that make no sense, and the worst of it is, every incompetent governor, every corrupt mayor is going to say it in the future, 'Why should I rein in my pension obligations or overspending? I'll wait for the Democrats to get the House, the Senate, and the presidency and they will bail me out.'"

The president's $1.9 trillion COVID plan, therefore, is a "targeted bailout to blue states that shut things down" during the pandemic. "You are paying people for failure. That means the next time there's a problem, more failure."

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