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Coalition Letter in Opposition to Democrat Tax Hikes Being Pushed in the Reconciliation Legislation

Dear Chairman Neal, Ranking Member Brady, and Members of the Ways and Means Committee:

As your committee begins marking up the $3.5 trillion reckless tax-and spend reconciliation proposal, we write in opposition to any effort to raise taxes on American families and businesses.

It is expected that the reconciliation legislation will include countless tax increases totaling trillions of dollars. Some of the tax increases that have been publicly floated include:

  • Raising the corporate tax rate to 25 percent or 28 percent, a rate higher than Communist China
  • Doubling the capital gains tax to 43.4 percent
  • Raising the top rate to 39.6 percent
  • Creating a second death tax by eliminating step-up-in basis
  • 95 percent excise tax on pharmaceutical manufacturers if they fail to accept government set price controls
  • Repealing the deduction for foreign-derived intangible income
  • Raising taxes on carried interest capital gains
  • Raising the tax rate on GILTI to a top rate of 26.25 percent and requiring it to be calculated on a country-by-country basis
  • Imposing a 15 percent minimum tax on book income
  • Retroactively capping the conservation easement deduction
  • Repealing numerous oil and gas tax provisions including the deduction for intangible drilling costs (IDCs)
  • A tax on American energy manufacturers based on their methane production
  • A carbon border tax
  • Capping Section 1031 like-kind exchanges

Supporters of the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, like self-avowed socialist Bernie Sanders claim that the tax
increases will be paid by billionaires “who don't pay a nickel in federal income taxes … (and) large corporations that make billions in profit, and in some years do not pay a penny in federal income taxes.”

This claim is false. Millions of small businesses will see higher taxes through the increase in the corporate tax and the top marginal income tax rate. In addition, the plan to repeal step-up in basis will raise taxes on family-owned businesses across the country.

Democrats have also floated retroactive tax increases on the American people. For instance, the Biden budget calls for retroactively increasing the capital gains tax. This is a terrible idea – retroactive tax policy changes the rules on taxpayers after the fact. It is fundamentally unfair and erodes confidence in the tax system.

Many of the tax hikes being pushed by the administration violate President Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on any American earning less than $400,000 per year. A recent analysis by the left-of-center Tax Policy Center found that the tax hikes proposed in President Biden’s budget will raise taxes on 74.1 percent of middle income-quintile households in 2022. In addition, a report by the Joint Committee on Taxation found that over the long-term, approximately $100 billion of the corporate tax increase would be borne by taxpayers making less than $100,000.

Now is one of the worst times to raise taxes on American families and businesses. We are still over five million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels. In addition, inflation is running rampant and increasing prices for families and businesses across the country.

Rather than pushing tax increases on American families and businesses, we urge you to push policies that promote economic growth so that the economy can recover and grow.

Sincerely,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform

Ryan Ellis
President, Center for a Free Economy

David McIntosh
President, The Club for Growth

Brandon Arnold
Executive Vice President, National Taxpayers Union

Brent Wm. Gardner
Chief Government Affairs Officer, Americans for Prosperity

Garrett Bess
Vice President, Heritage Action for America

Adam Brandon
President, FreedomWorks

Stephen Moore
Senior Economic Contributor, FreedomWorks

Governor Scott Walker, President
Young America’s Foundation

Tom Schatz
President, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste

Angela Logomasini
Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Marlo Lewis
Senior Fellow, Energy & Environmental Policy
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Myron Ebell
Director, Center for Energy and Environment
Competitive Enterprise Institute

David Williams
President, Taxpayers Protection Alliance

Lisa B Nelson
CEO, ALEC Action

Daniel Schneider
Executive Director, American Conservative Union

Phil Kerpen
President, American Commitment

Saulius “Saul” Anuzis
President, 60 Plus Association

Jim Martin
Founder/Chairman, 60 Plus Association

Marty Connors
Co-Chairman, Alabama Center-Right Coalition Meeting

Alan Sears
Founder, Alliance Defending Freedom

Bob Carlstrom
President, AMAC Action

Kelly Kullberg
American Association of Evangelicals

Dick Patten
President, American Business Defense Council

Thomas Pyle
President, American Energy Alliance

Kathleen Patten
President and CEO, American Target Advertising, Inc.

Gary L. Bauer
President, American Values

Dee Stewart
President, Americans for a Balanced Budget

The Honorable Jake Hoffman
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Brenda Barton
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Leo Biasiucci
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Walt Blackman
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Judy Burges
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Joseph Chaplik
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable John Fillmore
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Gail Griffin
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Justin Wilmeth
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable John Kavanaugh
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Becky Nutt
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Jacqueline Parker
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Kevin Payne
Arizona House of Representatives

The Honorable Beverly Pingerelli
Arizona House of Representatives

E.C. Sykes
General Partner, Aslan Ventures


Robert Alt
President and CEO, The Buckeye Institute

Lourdes Cosio
Campaign for the American Future

Ralph Benko
Chairman, The Capitalist League

Susan A. Carleson
President/CEO, Carleson Center for Welfare Reform

Andrew F. Quinlan
President, Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Jeffrey Mazzella
President, Center for Individual Freedom

Ginevra Joyce-Myers
Executive Director, Center for Innovation and Free Enterprise

Shannon O. Royce, J.D.
President, Christian Employers Alliance

David Kullberg
Executive Director, Christians for a Sustainable Economy

David N. Bossie
President, Citizens United

Kay R. Daly
President, Coalition for a Fair Judiciary

Mr. John J. Park Jr
Conservative Activist

Karen Hartman
Conservative Activist/Paralegal

Morton Blackwell
Chairman, Conservative Leadership PAC

George K. Rasley Jr
Managing Editor, ConservativeHQ.com

Alfred S. Regnery
Chairman, Conservative Action Project
President, Republic Book Publishers

Ron Pearson
Executive Director, Conservative Victory Fund

James Edwards
Executive Director, Conservatives for Property Rights

Matthew Kandrach
President, Consumer Action for a Strong Economy

Charles J. Cooper
Cooper & Kirk, PLLC

Guillermo J. Aragon
Senior Partner, Corbere Partners

Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director, Digital Liberty

Steven J. Buri
President, Discovery Institute

Anne Schlafly Cori
Chairman, Eagle Forum

Donna Rice Hughes
CEO/President, Enough Is Enough

Palmer Schoening
Chairman, Family Business Coalition

Annette Thompson Meeks
CEO, Freedom Foundation of Minnesota

George Landrith
President, Frontiers of Freedom

Victor Riches
President & CEO, Goldwater Institute

Andresen Blom
President, Hawaiian Values

Carrie Lukas
President, Independent Women's Forum

Heather R. Higgins
CEO, Independent Women's Voice

Andrew Langer
President, Institute for Liberty

Tom Giovanetti
President, Institute for Policy Innovation

Christopher Ingstad
President, Iowans for Tax Relief

Peggy Dau
Representative, Iran Alive Ministries

John Dodd
President Emeritus, Jesse Helms Center
Chairman, North Carolina Center-Right Coalition Meeting

The Honorable Morton C. Blackwell
President, Leadership Institute

Seton Motley
President, Less Government

Mrs. Kielle C. Horton
President, The Lindsey Foundation

Randy M Long
Founder, Long Business Advisors, LLC

Brett Healy
President, MacIver Institute

Gary Marx
President, Madison Strategies

Matthew Gagnon
Chief Executive Officer, Maine Policy Institute

Charles Sauer
President, Market Institute

Christina Murphy Lusk, Esq.
President, The Martin Foundation

Rod D. Martin
Founder and CEO, The Martin Organization, Inc.

L. Brent Bozell, III
Founder and President, Media Research Center

Tim Jones
Chair, Missouri Center-Right Coalition
Fmr. Speaker, Missouri House

Joseph A. Morris
Partner, Morris & De La Rosa
Assistant U.S. Attorney General (President Reagan)

Justin Danhof
Executive Vice President, National Center for Public Policy Research

Shawn Mitchell
Former National Chaplain, National Federation of Republican Assemblies

Chuck Muth
Chairman, Nevada Center-Right Coalition Meeting

Melvin Adams
President, Noah Webster Educational Foundation

Kevin Freeman
Founder, NSIC Institute

Gerard Kassar
State Chairman, NYS Conservative Party

Brandon Dutcher
Senior Vice President, Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs

Doug Kellogg
Executive Director, Ohioans for Tax Reform

Tom Hebert
Executive Director, Open Competition Center

Jeff Kropf
President, Oregon Taxpayer Coalition and the Oregon Capitol Watch Foundation

Grant Maloy
Chairman, Orlando Center-Right Coalition Meeting

Ellen Weaver
President & CEO, Palmetto Promise Institute

Stephen Stepanek
President, Pine Tree Public Policy Institute
Co-Chairman, New Hampshire Center-Right Coalition Meeting

Penna Dexter
Co-host, Point of View Radio Show

Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director, Property Rights Alliance

Nancy Schulze
Founder and President, RCW Speakers

Craig Shirley
Reagan Biographer and Presidential Historian

Dr. Rick Scarborough
President, Recover America Action

Paul Gessing
President, Rio Grande Foundation

Mike Stenhouse
CEO, Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity

Bryan Bashur
Executive Director, Shareholder Advocacy Forum

Kerri Toloczko
Chairman, Southwest Florida Center-Right Coalition Meeting

David Miller
Co-Chairman, Southwest Ohio Center-Right Coalition Meeting

Sal Russo
Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, Tea Party Express

Judson Phillips
Founder, Tea Party Nation

William W. Pascoe, III
Our Man in Washington
Tea Party Patriots Action

Vance Ginn
Chief Economist, Texas Public Policy Foundation

Kent Kaiser
Executive Director, Trade Alliance to Promote Prosperity

C. Preston Noell III
President, Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

Terrence Scanlon
Retired Chairman, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commn.
Retired Chairman and President, Capital Research Center, (22 years)

The Honorable Bob McEwen
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Ohio

The Honorable Stephen Stockman
U.S. House of Representatives
Former Member, Texas

Rusty Cannon
President, Utah Taxpayer Association

Floyd Brown
Founder, The Western Journal