Small businesses are bracing for President Biden’s “Made-in-America” corporate tax hikes, which targets America’s largest employers and risks U.S. jobs, wages, and competitiveness, said Republican Leader on the Ways and Means Committee Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) in opening a Ways and Means Republican meeting.

KEY EXCERPTS: 

“This bill includes $1.2 trillion of crippling tax hikes on America’s job creators. It will kill U.S. jobs and drive many of them overseas, that includes $400 billion of higher taxes on small businesses. It includes spending that will make the labor shortage worse and drives up prices higher on American families already struggling with record high prices.

“But the Biden Administration now wants to pursue a so-called ‘corporate book income provision,’ which is both untested and unvetted. It is better called a Made-in-America Tax.

“It discourages investment in new technology and new equipment, slows growth, and makes it harder for companies to invest in the productivity of their workers.

“Small business owners and other entrepreneurs will face the highest taxes rates in the developed world at over 57 percent. And Democrats’ proposed global tax surrender makes it better to be a foreign company or worker than an American one.

“As job creators brace for Democrats’ tax hikes, some are signaling that they’ll have to cut billions in research and development (R&D) – a huge risk to American jobs, wages, and our competitiveness.

“So the question is: How can moderate Democrats support tax cuts for the rich while nearly a third of the middle income get a tax hike? How can moderate Democrats support this self-inflicted sabotage of our competitiveness?”

CLICK HERE to watch the full meeting.

WATCH: Brady: Democrats’ Tax Rates Punish Job Creators in America

Rep. Brady’s full remarks as prepared for delivery appear below.

Good morning. Thank you all for being here this morning.

There’s a lot at stake in Democrats’ latest scramble for more of hardworking Americans’ tax dollars to pay for their crippling, $4 trillion tax-and-spend bill. 

This bill includes $1.2 trillion of crippling tax hikes on America’s job creators. It will kill U.S. jobs and drive many of them overseas, that includes 400 billion dollars of higher taxes on small businesses. It includes spending that will make the labor shortage worse and drives up prices higher on American families already struggling with record high prices.

As you know, under the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, America leap-frogged to the number one most competitive economy on earth, lifted millions of Americans out of poverty, brought back to the United States jobs, manufacturing, investment, and intellectual property. We saw research and development (R&D) spending increase by 25 percent to a new record high, creating new good-paying jobs and higher wages.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) created the first-ever 20 percent deduction for small businesses, which has allowed our local Main Street job creators to keep more of their hard-earned money to hire, invest, and grow in their communities.

They did just that.

In fact, in 2019, at least 21 million small businesses and their employees benefited by the more than $66 billion in savings this deduction created.

This provision contributed to the strongest small business economy in a generation and the resurgence of American manufacturing pre-pandemic.

But the Biden Administration now wants to pursue a so-called “corporate book income provision,” which is both untested and unvetted. It is better called a Made-in-America Tax.

 It discourages investment in new technology and new equipment, slows growth, and makes it harder for companies to invest in the productivity of their workers.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Job creators and even Left-leaning analysts agree that this tax increase will sabotage our economic growth.

The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation says that the middle class would shoulder a third of corporate taxes under the Democrats’ Made-in-America Tax that hurts American manufacturing, energy, and technology industries the harshest.

The tax targets the 200 largest employers in the U.S. from John Deere to Home Depot, and hits hardest these manufacturing, energy, and technology firms.

Recovering small businesses get hammered with over $400 billion in crippling tax hikes.

Small business owners and other entrepreneurs will face the highest taxes rates in the developed world at over 57 percent. And Democrats’ proposed global tax surrender makes it better to be a foreign company or worker than an American one.

As job creators brace themselves for Democrats’ tax hikes, some are signaling that they’ll have to cut billions in research and development (R&D) – a huge risk to American jobs, wages, and our competitiveness.

And let’s not forget what 20-30 percent of Middle-Class working families will get in exchange for these tax hikes: a worsened labor shortage, higher prices at the grocery store and the gas pump, and slashed paychecks. 

Meanwhile, Democrats are providing a hefty tax giveaway to the wealthy top five percent.

According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, two out of every three taxpayers earning over $1 million in income get a tax cut, while nearly 80 percent of taxpayers earning between $500,000 and $1 million will get a tax cut as well.

So the question is: how can moderate Democrats support tax cuts for the rich while nearly a third of the middle income get a tax hike? How can moderate Democrats support this self-inflicted sabotage of our competitiveness? Those are the questions we’re going to be exploring today.