Senate Dems Push Tax Increases In the Face Of Recession

Despite the growing threat of a global recession, Senate Democrats are still trying to raise the U.S. corporate tax rate. Even though economists warn against raising taxes in a recession, two leading Democratic Senators want higher taxes on U.S. companies.

Senators Ron Wyden and Bernie Sanders are using a report from the GAO to argue that a low effective tax rate in 2018 shows that the 2017 tax law was a corporate windfall and should be repealed.

Unfortunately, the Senators are missing the full story about the 2017 tax cuts. The GAO report actually found that while the effective rate was lower, total tax liability for corporations was higher in 2018 than before the tax law passed. That’s because the law also broadened the tax base and taxed more foreign income.