COVID bill brings relief – and Democrat agenda

For many Americans, it’s welcome news that lawmakers gave the nod to President Biden’s COVID relief bill — a $1,400 check isn’t a fortune, but a boost nonetheless for struggling families.

But the legislation is also notable for the way it slips in items high on the progressive agenda, and offers a glimpse of the Democratic playbook going forward. As Politico reported, Democrats added three little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations into the coronavirus relief package. Together, the hikes are worth $60 billion.

One ditches deductions for publicly traded companies that pay top employees more than $1 million. Another provision cracks down on how multinational corporations do their taxes. A third targets how owners of unincorporated businesses account for their losses.

This is a warning shot to businesses around the country: This administration would love to tell you how to run your business.

This bill was supposed to be about getting relief to Americans still bearing the brunt of the coronavirus’s impact on the economy. But a chance to push the tax-therich agenda proved too tempting.

These provisions were added late in the legislative process, and lobbyists didn’t have much time to wrangle opposition.

“Everybody was caught by surprise,” said a former Democratic aide. “They picked obscure items — things that were not on the radar.”

“Clearly it’s a signal that Democrats will look to high-income people and large corporations for revenue for the investment package to come,” said Seth Hanlon, a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress.

Also in the vein of “high earners are to be punished,” this round of checks lowers income cut-offs for eligibility — reasoning that if you are earning $80,000 during a pandemic, you are doing just fine and don’t need a check. But isn’t the point of a stimulus to boost the economy by giving people money to spend? Should it matter if you spend that $1,400 on groceries or dining at local restaurants that could use the business?

Democrats labored to include a minimum wage hike in the bill — a move that would have kneecapped many struggling small businesses which could not absorb paying $15 an hour to workers and recover from the pandemic. That doesn’t mean that they’ve given up.

Much has also been made of the fact that inmates received stimulus checks under President Trump as they will under Biden’s bill.

However, inmates received checks in 2020 because Trump’s bill didn’t contain any language specifically prohibiting prisoners from doing so. The Internal Revenue Service tried after the fact to keep money from inmates in the first bill. Prisoners filed a class-action lawsuit, and a federal judge ruled in October that the government had to let prisoners in on the deal.

Whether from an oversight, or deliberate inclusion, it’s still a slap in the face to law-abiding taxpayers. Yes, prisoners have to pay to communicate with family and friends via phone or messaging, and purchase items from the commissary — but why should the costs be passed on to those who didn’t break the law?

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, called the legislation “seismic” and said it delivers “much-needed help and relief.”

For many Americans, yes it does.

But it also delivers insight on how Democrats are keen to advance progressive agendas, even if it means adding tax hikes to relief bills at the last minute.