Off Course

Biden plan to reverse corporate tax cuts wrong way to go

On Tuesday, former vice president and current frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination Joe Biden unveiled a comprehensive proposal to fight climate change.

It involves a massive investment of $1.7 trillion into clean energy and infrastructure.

Biden would rejoin the Paris climate accords, ban new drilling for oil and gas on public lands and has a goal of zero net emissions by the year 2050.

He says the federal money would promote investments on the state and local level, as well as by private companies.

So, where is the $1.7 trillion going to come from?

According to the Biden campaign, "by reversing the excesses of the Trump tax cuts for corporations, reducing incentives for tax havens, evasion and outsourcing, ensuring corporations pay their fair share, closing other loopholes in our tax code that reward work not wealth, and ending subsidies for fossil fuels."

In other words, by taxing the same folks Biden hopes will be willing to pony up for his idea.

We don't think that's going to work too well.

The corporate tax cuts enacted by Congress and President Donald Trump have been good for the economy and will have an even more positive effect in the years to come. Reversing them would be a huge mistake. And we doubt corporate America's response would be to funnel what money they have left into Biden's plan for the future.

Intelligent people can debate the merits of the climate change theory. And we think most would agree that reducing pollution and our dependence on fossil fuels are worthy goals. We can talk about all that and figure out the best course ahead. But going back to counterproductive high corporate tax rates is not the best course. Not even close.

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