Republicans fail on the economy — and Americans are fine with raising taxes on corporations and the rich
President Joe Biden announced The American Family Plan this week that would help rebuild American infrastructure and help grow jobs and education in an effort to bring the U.S. into the 21st century.
During an MSNBC panel, reporters noted that Republicans have always won on issues around money and the economy, but that appears to be slipping as most Americans didn't see an impact from the GOP tax bill in 2017. At the same time, Republicans fought hard against Biden's COVID-19 stimulus package that gave additional payments to Americans making under $75,000 a year. It was a plan that former President Donald Trump attempted to pass, but Republicans were opposed to it.
There's also the fact that the GOP tried to convince Americans that the economy would be destroyed under a Biden presidency. Trump, in fact, told his rally crowds that they would see the stock market fall if Biden was elected. Calling it "a disaster," he tried to promote his own work on the economy, but the markets had already fallen under him and he lost faith in the economy as he failed to control the coronavirus.
NBC News reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell explained that Democrats don't believe Republicans have any credibility on the economy going all the way back to the recession under President Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Even George H.W. Bush promised not to raise taxes, but when he entered office after the Reagan, problems he was forced to.
"They point to the economy saying that under the Trump administration, under the Republican tax cuts of 2017 the rich have gotten richer," Caldwell continued. "The corporations have gotten richer. But the thing that matters most as far as credibility is concerned is where the American people land. And polls are suggesting that Americans are not opposed to increasing taxes on corporations and on the wealthy. And that is pretty significant, especially when Americans think they're getting something out of it. They're pairing these tax increases with really a big restructuring of the economy to give middle, lower-income people a more even playing field. And this seems as far as polling is concerned at this moment, seems to be working for Democrats and the Biden administration."
PBS News' Yamiche Alcindor noted that as Biden reaches his first 100 days in office, he intends to take a victory lap because he's been able to meet all of the goals they've set for themselves. What's next, however, will be issues that have plagued Republicans and Democrats, she explained. Issues like immigration, police reform and other topics have notoriously struggled to make it through even the most bipartisan of Congresses. Still, the Biden team thinks they can do it.
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