Sargent: Dumb Attack on Biden’s Plan Reveals the Weakness of GOP Arguments

Labor News

President Joseph Biden, courtesy of the White House site

Reprinted from The Washington Post by Greg Sargent on April 27, 2021.

“Republicans,” writes Greg Sargent in The Washington Post, “have settled on an attack against President Biden’s jobs plans: Raising taxes on ultra-rich Americans constitutes socialism.

“The most buffoonish expression of this yet comes courtesy of former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who said Sunday on ABC News that raising the capital gains tax, of all things, is ‘socialism’ because it constitutes ‘redistribution of income.’

“But this absurdity is actually useful. It points to a deeper intellectual scam employed by opponents of higher taxes, one that should be exposed as the debate over Biden’s plans gets underway.
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“It’s the idea that higher taxes represent a departure from a purportedly natural baseline of free-market capitalism that is getting distorted by those higher taxes in a way that offends pristine free-market principles. …
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About Jeffrey Burman 861 Articles
Jeff Burman served on the Guild’s Board of Directors from 1992 to 2019. He is now retired. He can be reached at [email protected].