South Dakotans Deserve Permanent Tax Relief, Not New Tax Hikes
By Sen. John Thune
When Democrats took office in January 2021, Congress had just passed a fifth bipartisan COVID relief bill that met essentially all current pressing COVID needs. Still eager to spend more, Democrats then passed a massive $1.9 trillion piece of legislation under the guise of COVID relief that flooded the economy with unnecessary government money, and the economy overheated as a result. Then, despite steadily climbing inflation in the wake of their bill, Democrats seemed incapable of learning from their mistake, and they spent last fall attempting to double down on the failed strategy that helped get us into this mess in the first place.
Fortunately, Democrats’ plan for a second spending spree failed last December, but it’s become clear that they’re not giving up. Right now, they’re trying to pass a new version of their tax-and-spending spree where they plan to hike taxes on small businesses.
While President Biden was on the campaign trail, he touted, among many things, that he would repeal the tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – the tax relief legislation Republicans passed in 2017 that helped increase wages and incomes, boost economic growth, and drive the poverty rate to a record low. The president falsely claims that the bill solely benefitted high-income earners and corporations when it was actually lower- and middle-income Americans who are the ones who saw some of the biggest benefits from Republicans’ tax relief legislation. The effects of tax reform on business investment, wages for working families, and tax revenue were a boon to the American people and our economy.
I wish we had continued down that path of growth and opportunity, but Democrats have decided to take another route. The president claims he ran for office because he was tired of the “trickle-down economy” and that he wants to build an economy “that works for working families.” But as families across the country know, President Biden’s economy is not working for them.
Inflation is at its highest level since November 1981 – a staggering 9.1 percent. Everywhere South Dakotans look, they’re facing price increases. I was recently back in my hometown of Murdo for an all-school reunion, and some folks told me that business profits are down by 30 percent or more this year due to high gas prices and soaring inflation. Like many small towns across South Dakota that rely heavily on the tourism industry, record-high inflation has stunted travel and resulted in a significant loss in revenue.
It’s abundantly clear that raising taxes would likely lead to a combination of lower wages for workers, lower returns for business owners, and higher prices for goods and services. When you combine that with inflation and more unnecessary government spending, you have a recipe for continued economic misery for American families and communities across the country. If Democrats really wanted to help American families, they’d be focused on making all of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax cuts permanent. I am doing everything in my power to stop the Democrats’ newest version of their reckless tax-and-spending spree. South Dakotans have suffered enough.
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Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced the “Let Experienced Pilots Fly Act” to alleviate the pilot shortage by raising the mandatory commercial pilot retirement age from 65 to 67.
