Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist appeared today on “Varney & Co.” with Stuart Varney on Fox Business to discuss worsening inflation in Biden’s economy, and how this problem could get much worse if Congress passes Democrats’ socialist tax-and-spend bill, dubbed “Build Back Better.”
The consumer price index increased by 6.8 percent on an annualized basis before seasonal adjustment in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This is the fastest inflation acceleration since 1982. In November alone, inflation increased by 0.8 percent. In January 2021, before Joe Biden took over the presidency, annual inflation was at a stable 1.4 percent. Inflation has remained consistently high since Biden took office.
When asked if he believed President Biden’s claim that we are at the “peak” of the inflation crisis, Norquist explained that this is not the case, especially if the “Build Back Better” bill is passed as Democrats intend:
“Not if he passes that tax-and-spend bill that he’s putting forward. That has a whole collection of things that increase prices for working men and women.”
Norquist goes on to explain the ways in which the bill will increase costs. Through higher taxes and tax subsidies, consumers will pay more for goods while workers will experience lower wages:
“For starters, it’s $1.2 trillion in “business taxes.” But, if you poll the American people, they know what happens when businesses have higher taxes – they can tell you prices go up. We also know that about 70 percent of the corporate taxes is paid for in lower wages, according to the Tax Foundation. Add to that, there’s a subsidy – a tax subsidy – for trial lawyers suing small businesses that then raise prices. You take one billion dollars out of a business? Where are they going to get that? Higher prices. Trial lawyers make everything more expensive – this subsidizes trial lawyers.”
Additionally, this bill contains numerous subsidies for left-wing special interests such as big labor, which will inevitably increase costs for consumers, as Norquist notes:
“Labor unions make work rules that make every more expensive. There’s a subsidy here for union dues. There’s a subsidy for buying an electric car, but only if it’s from a unionized company. So, what does that do? It raises prices. They want to have all sorts of rules for who can take care of your child: we’re going to have subsidized childcare, but you have to have someone with a college degree who pays teacher union dues. What does that cost?”