In Pa., Biden calls for more taxes on wealthy
SCRANTON, Pa. — President Biden returned to his workingclass childhood hometown of Scranton on Tuesday to call for higher taxes on the rich and cast Donald Trump as an out-of-touch elitist, part of an attempt to blunt the populist appeal of his predecessor’s comeback attempt.
Biden’s stop opened three straight days of campaigning in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania while his opponent spends much of the week in a New York City courtroom for his first criminal trial.
Biden used Scranton, a city of roughly 75,000 people, as the backdrop to argue that getting rich in America is fine, but should come with heftier tax bills. He dismissed Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee and a billionaire, as a tool of wealthy interests.
It’s all aimed at reframing the conversation around the economy, which has left many Americans feeling sour about their financial situations at a time of stubborn inflation and elevated interest rates despite low unemployment.
“When I look at the economy, I don’t look at it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago. I look at it through the eyes of Scranton,” the president said, contrasting his modest upbringing with the Florida estate where the former president now lives.
Biden has proposed a 25 percent minimum tax rate for billionaires, which he said would swell federal coffers by hundreds of billions of dollars. He added that such levies are “how we invest in the country.”
“Scranton values or Mar-aLago values,” Biden said. “These are the competing visions for our economy that raise questions of fundamental fairness at the heart of this campaign.”
He spoke at a community center from a stage flanked by a banner reading “Tax Fairness for All Americans.”
Biden was taking part in a training session for grassroots organizers at a union hall before swinging by his old house, which has served as a touchstone for him through the years, according to a person familiar with the plans who declined to be identified ahead of Biden’s arrival.
By the time the week is over, Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris will have visited the state eight times this year, reflecting its importance to Biden’s hopes for a second term.