President Joe Biden stated on Tuesday that he would not allow the Republican party to destroy the U.S. economy during his first meeting with Democratic leaders in the newly elected Congress, according to The Hill.
“I love their 30 percent sales tax,” Biden said. “We want to talk a lot about that, but, look, I have no intention of letting the Republicans wreck our economy, nor does anybody around this table, in my view.”
The president was discussing a suggestion put forward by House conservatives to eliminate income taxes, payroll taxes, and estate taxes and instead implement a 30% national sales tax, known as the Fair Tax Act. The proposal was introduced by Representative Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and has the support of 30 other Republicans.
Critics argue that the current state of the U.S. economy is already precarious and that further reducing taxes would only improve the situation. Additionally, they assert that the Democratic party currently holds the presidency and that the current economic crisis is not the responsibility of the Republican party.
The President went on to say, “I’m tired of trickle-down economics. I want to build this economy from the bottom up and the middle out. When that happens, poor folks have a shot, the middle class does well, and the wealthy never get hurt. They’re doing just fine.”
At the beginning of the meeting, the President emphasized that the Republicans seem determined to reduce funding for Social Security and Medicare.
The White House has made it clear that they will not compromise with the Republican members of Congress who are insisting on reducing government spending in exchange for increasing the country’s debt limit.
Congressional Democrats are urging Republicans to present a plan to raise the debt ceiling and prevent a default on U.S. debt.
