President Biden hasn’t hesitated in boasting about the supposedly “historic middle-class tax cut” making its way through the halls of Congress. But, his speeches delivered behind teleprompters hide the inconvenient reality of the “historic” agenda. 

Made up of 40 separate tax increases worth $2 trillion, the Democrats’ plan would be the largest package of tax increases since 1968. President Biden promises these hikes will fall on “big corporations and the very wealthy,” but we know we can’t take him at his word. In practice, small businesses will bear the burden: the proposal includes a surtax on income and eliminates deductions intended to equalize the tax burden for small businesses. 

Not even Communist China taxes domestic businesses at such a burdensome rate! That’s right: if the Democrats get their way, communism will look more attractive to investors than the business environment fostered by the freest nation in the world. Even worse, the White House is pushing for a global minimum tax that will erase one million U.S. jobs and — equally as egregious — potentially exclude China from the job-killing tax burdens. 

What does that mean for business owners? Less hiring and fewer raises for employees. The National Federation of Independent Business President Brad Close explained that more than 80 percent of members say the deductions eliminated in the legislation are important to their bottom line. Close described opposition to cutting deductions as “overwhelming.” 

Small businesses are not alone in their opposition. Biden promised the plan wouldn’t raise taxes on “anyone making less than $400,000 a year.” Extensive research found conclusively that U.S. workers, retirees, and small businesses will disproportionately be harmed. This is not a short-term setback. Over the next decade, over 66% of the corporate tax burden will fall on middle and lower-income taxpayers making well below $500,000. 

Democrat policies are, in no uncertain terms, a disaster for the American people. Our businesses and livelihoods will suffer as a direct result of the radical whims of congressional Democrats championed by the White House. Make no mistake — Democrats in the White House and Congress haven’t just failed the American people — they are doing everything in their power to keep us from succeeding, to destroy small businesses and force their socialist agenda on Main Street America.

These proposed tax regulations will undermine small businesses, bankrupt lower-income taxpayers, and enable China to continue its uncontested economic growth. Any effort to subvert outright opposition to the radical tax plan is an insult to the American people. Tennesseans are tired of the Democrats’ “historic” agenda. We do not want record-breaking tax hikes. We need leaders who put our needs above those of their party, and Democrats have proven themselves incapable of that task.