After a year of unprecedented government spending amid the coronavirus pandemic, how revenue will be collected to pursue future aid and to keep running the United States is under scrutiny. Republican incumbent Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden have significantly disparate views on tax collection in their platforms for the presidency.
Top Earners
Largely, the president would like to keep in place his 2017 income tax cuts (set to expire in 2025) that provided a reduction on the top marginal rate from 40 to 37 percent for the wealthiest earners.
Biden plans to return the rate back to near 40 percent and eliminate the $10,000 cap on state and local deductions that had the effect of raising taxes on households in high-tax states such as New York and California.
Middle-Income Earners
Both candidates say they want to cut taxes on households in the middle brackets. President Trump made a proposal prior to COVID-19 that would have lowered the 22 percent tax bracket down to 15 percent.
Meanwhile, Biden offers more incentivized tax breaks to encourage retirement savings, child care spending, and first-time home buying.
Corporate Taxes
Trump is sticking to the reduction made by his 2017 tax law that lowered corporate taxes to 21 percent from 35 percent.
Challenger Joe Biden would like that rate to be bumped up to 28 percent.
Both men offer plans to create tax incentives for domestic manufacturing.
Capital Gains
The 2020 presidential candidates differ particularly in taxing profits on stocks. President Trump would like to drop the top current rate from 20 percent to 15 percent and has even considered a temporary capital gains tax holiday.
Former Vice President Biden, however, plans to change existing rules in order to tax profits as ordinary income, which could potentially lead to a 40 percent tax on top earners on profits of more than $1 million.
While Donald Trump stated he would be willing to pardon Capitol Hill insurrectionists should he return to the presidency, the January 6 Committee issued subpoenas to 14 individuals who cast bogus electoral votes for the former president in seven states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large at The Daily Beast, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ongoing congressional investigation. "It is kind of crazy that every time Trump speaks, he kind of confesses a little more of what he was up to, but you really have to have proof," said Jong-Fast.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
Alex Ward, National Security Reporter at Politico, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest in a looming international threat as Russia continues aggression against Ukraine, in defiance of Western nations.
The recent Virginia and New Jersey elections are making one trend line pretty clear: voters in this climate will vote on education, and it could be a winning tactic for Republicans.
Virginia's race for governor was defined by, as the Republican candidate and eventual winner described it, "school-choice." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking a page out of Governor Youngkin's playbook for his upcoming reelection bid, over-indexing on themes of education. John Kennedy, Florida capital reporter at Gannett, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
North Korea launched its sixth missile test this month, equaling the total number performed in all of 2021. Cheddar News speaks with Bruce Klinger of the Heritage Foundation on why the regime is suddenly ramping up its weapons testing program.
More than 80 lawmakers are calling for President Biden to release a memo outlining the legal pros and cons regarding the president's authority to cancel student loan debt, the total of which sits around $1.75 trillion. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.), joined Cheddar to discuss the memo and support the push to forgive student debt that could potentially have a massive positive impact on the U.S. economy. "I think that would be really helpful for all of us to be able to see as we figure out how we can go forward," she said. "It seems like a simple thing to do, and I hope that the administration will release this memo." For her part, Sen. Smith said she believes the president does have the authority to abolish student loan debt.
Dr. Celeste González de Bustamante, professor and director of the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the Univerity of Arizona, and Dr. Jeannine E. Relly, professor and director of Global Initiatives at the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the University of Arizona, join Cheddar News to discuss the recent journalist killings in Mexico.
