The package of tax cuts approved four years ago under then-President Donald Trump will be in tatters if Democrats get their way with plans to fund a $3.5 trillion spending spree.
House Democrats have circulated a draft plan that includes about $2.9 trillion in new taxes, according to The Washington Post.
The proposal would raise the top tax rate on Americans earning over $435,000 from 37 percent to 39.6 percent, according to the report. Some corporations would see a tax increase from 21 percent to 26.5 percent under the plan.
As part of progressivesâ efforts to tax wealth, a âsurtax on high-income individualsâ for Americans earning more than $5 million is in the plan, with an estimated haul of $127 billion.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the proposal âmakes significant progress toward ensuring our economy rewards work and not just wealthâ while upholding President Joe Bidenâs promise to undo Trumpâs tax cuts in a way that does not raise rates on Americans who earn less than $400,000 annually.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi aims to have the House version of the revenue proposal completed this week, the Post reported.
But there are tensions on the Democratic side between those on the extreme left of the party and the more moderate members.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has said he does not support spending $3.5 trillion and the plan âwill not have my voteâ as it now stands.
Manchin said Democrats need to be smart in the way they dole out tax credits and other perks.
âI support child tax credits. Letâs see how weâre doing, letâs make sure weâre getting it to the right people,â he said, according to the Post. âThereâs no work requirements whatsoever. Thereâs no education requirements whatsoever for better skill sets.
âDonât you think if you want to help the children, the people should make some effort?â
But Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said cutting back the $3.5 trillion was âabsolutely not acceptable to me, I donât think itâs acceptable to the president, to the American people, or to the overwhelming majority of the Democratic caucus.â
âI believe weâre going to all sit down and work together and come up with a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, which deals with the enormously unmet needs of working families,â Sanders said.
But Manchin said on CNN that with the money Congress has already thrown around, a bit of patience is necessary.
âWeâve already put out $5.4 trillion and weâve tried to help Americans in every way we possibly can and a lot of the help that weâve put out there is still there and itâs going to run clear until next year, 2022, so whatâs the urgency? Whatâs the urgency that we have?â the senator said.
âItâs not the same urgency that we had with the American Rescue Plan. We got that out the door quickly. That was about $2 trillion.â
Republicans are expected to oppose the plan.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
