Biden campaign outlines tax proposals ahead of Scranton town hall meeting on CNN

Calling the upcoming election “Park Avenue vs. Scranton,” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign issued a series of tax policy proposals Thursday ahead of his town hall meeting tonight on CNN. The 8 p.m. event will be held in Scranton.

Although they stressed controlling the covid-19 pandemic remains Biden’s top priority, his campaign team said the former vice president’s proposed tax policies provide a perfect contrast between Biden and President Donald Trump.

In a national press call, Biden campaign officials painted Trump’s 2017 tax package the president says provided “historic tax cuts and relief for hard-working Americans” as a giveaway for big corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Pushing back against Trump’s repeated attempts to paint Biden as intent on raising taxes, deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield reiterated Biden’s pledge to limit tax increases to the rich.

“If you make less than $400,000, you will not pay a penny more in taxes under Biden,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign disputed that. Campaign spokeswoman Rachel Lee said Biden’s call to repeal Trump’s 2017 tax cut would cost middle-class Pennsylvanians on average more than $1,400 in tax savings they gained under the plan.

While Trump has gone on record in favor of reducing the capital gains tax rate on investment income from 20% to 15% if elected to a second term, and declared a temporary deferral of the 6.2% payroll tax for the remainder of the year, he has yet to come out with a concrete proposal for his tax plans if reelected, referring to it simply as tax cut 2.0.

Biden, campaign officials said, is proposing a series of middle-class tax breaks including:

• Increasing the child tax credit to $3,000 per child for children 6-17, and $3,600 per child younger than 6;
• Increasing tax credits for child care;
• Creating a tax credit of up to $15,000 for first-time home buyers;
• Equalizing tax benefits for contributions to retirement plans;
• Adding tax credits to offset the cost of caring for an aging family member.

The campaign said those benefits would help strengthen the middle class and could be paid for with a series of taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations that would also go toward underwriting the cost of an infrastructure program, free community college tuition and affordable health care.

Proposals to raise tax revenue outlined included:

• Raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%;
• Requiring a minimum tax on all foreign earnings of U.S. companies located overseas to 21%;
• Imposing a tax penalty on corporations that ship jobs overseas to sell products back to the U.S.;
• Raising the top individual tax rate to 39.6%;
• Imposing the same tax rate on wage and investment income for those making more than $1 million.

Asked about the timetable for such programs, campaign officials conceded much will depend on how quickly the coronavirus pandemic can be controlled.

Stef Feldman, policy director for the campaign, brushed aside questions about the possible harmful effects of Biden’s proposed increases in taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

“(Biden) has no patience for people who say we do not have the capacity to make sure the super wealthy and corporations pay their fair share,” she said.

The CNN town hall event tonight will be moderated by Anderson Cooper and held in the parking lot of PNC Field, home of the minor-league baseball team Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Following social-distancing guidelines, the setup will resemble a drive-in movie audience, with about 35 cars in the lot.

Trump held a town hall on ABC this week from Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania is expected to play a key role in determining the winner in the Nov. 3 presidential election.