{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=435F4475-7C8C-4D31-93B8-6037398F6632", "Desperate Democrats Now Planning Tax Hikes on Money Americans Haven\u2019t Even Made Yet", "2021-10-25", "2021", "2021-10", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", "mcconnell", "https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding Democrats\u2019 reckless tax and spending spree:\n\n\u201cThe biggest tax hikes in 50 years. The biggest peacetime tax hikes ever recorded in American history.\n\n\u201cThat is what Washington Democrats are cooking up.\n\n\u201cOur Democratic colleagues and President Biden are behind closed doors, dreaming up creative new ways to grab historic amounts of the American people\u2019s money.\n\n\u201cRemember, the same socialist spending plans that Democrats claim cost zero dollars somehow also need staggering new tax hikes to pay for them.\n\n\u201cSo \u2014 even with significant inflation, runaway gas prices, and runaway energy costs already hitting American families in their pocketbooks \u2014 Washington Democrats have spent months dreaming up new cash grabs for the IRS.\n\n\u201cDemocrats have talked about massively hiking business taxes, to a level that would leave American industries paying more than their competitors in Communist China.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve talked about jacking up marginal income tax rates in ways that would hammer small businesses and family businesses that file as pass-throughs.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve talked about adding a second death tax to give the IRS an even bigger bite out of family farms.\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve even proposed something that our country has never seen before: A new IRS surveillance dragnet where the IRS would get to track ordinary citizens\u2019 inflows and outflows. Banks and credit unions would be forced to hand over Americans\u2019 private information to the IRS.\n\n\u201cThe Democrats are so desperate to shake down the American people for money that they\u2019re proposing to essentially treat everybody like they\u2019re under audit!\n\n\u201cFor months now, our Democratic colleagues have been toying with one staggering tax increase after another. We\u2019ve seen one disappointing jobs report after another\u2026 one historic inflation report after another\u2026 but Democrats are still convinced that the biggest peacetime tax hikes on record in American history are just what the doctor ordered.\n\n\u201cAs one news report explained, \u2018the scramble has opened the door to potential tax proposals [that] progressives could only have dreamed of just a few months ago.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe far left is officially calling the shots. And that\u2019s where the latest new craziness comes into the picture:\n\n\u201cIf public reporting has it right, the Democrats are so desperate to raise taxes that they are now proposing to tax money the American people haven\u2019t even made yet.\n\nYes, you heard me right. So much for the quaint idea that you had to actually make money first before the IRS could tax it. Now Democrats want to tax money you haven\u2019t even made yet.\n\n\u201cThere are already capital gains taxes that Americans pay when they cash out an investment; when they sell what they\u2019ve been holding and realize actual gains. Now Democrats want to go much further and tax certain citizens just because their holdings have gone up in value, regardless of whether they have actually sold them and made any money.\n\n\u201cAnd get this: In parallel with taxing people on hypothetical gains they haven\u2019t realized, they apparently also want to hand out tax breaks for hypothetical losses that people haven\u2019t realized.\n\n\u201cThis harebrained scheme would have the IRS penalizing people who\u2019ve invested wisely and compensating people who\u2019ve invested poorly \u2014 all independent of whether they have actually made or lost any money.\n\n\u201cJust think of the unintended consequences.\n\n\u201cLike the fact that, in the event of a market crash or financial crisis, the government would be on the hook for massive automatic tax cuts for billionaires.\n\n\u201cOr the fact that some experts suggest this new scheme could drive the wealthiest Americans away from stocks and bonds, push them into other tax shelters, and thereby reduce the growth in ordinary Americans\u2019 investments that households rely on for college funds and 401(k)s.\n\n\u201cOr the fact that new, innovative entrepreneurs whose startups begin to grow in value could now get hit with a crushing tax bill long before their company is actually cash-flow positive. The next visionary start-up founder could have to sell away ownership prematurely just to pay Uncle Sam.\n\n\u201cOur Democratic colleagues have become so tax-hike-happy, they\u2019re throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.\n\n\u201cNow they\u2019re talking about rewiring the entire economy after a couple days\u2019 discussions on the back of an envelope. It\u2019s a massive and untested change that has not received any meaningful study or scrutiny.\n\n\u201cEven the Democratic Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee is complaining \u2018it hasn\u2019t been marked up, and there\u2019s been no vetting of it.\u2019\n\n\u201cOur Democratic colleague the senior Senator from Montana says, \u2018anytime you get into stuff that\u2019s not proven in the tax code it becomes a bit dangerous.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe senior Senator from Virginia says, \u2018My fear is if we\u2019re going to try some innovative new ideas and if we don\u2019t have time to develop them\u2026 we could mess some of this up.\u2019\n\n\u201cNo kidding, Madam President.\n\n\u201cThis is just the latest saga in this long parade of Democrat tax hikes. Nonpartisan analysts have shown that various aspects of the Democrats\u2019 plans would shatter President Biden\u2019s promise to leave the middle class alone. The middle class will get hit.\n\n\u201cWhen Republicans had power, we prioritized giving Americans a big tax cut. We wanted families to keep more of their own money and make American businesses more competitive around the world.\n\n\u201cDemocrats want the opposite.\n\n\u201cHistoric tax hikes.\n\n\u201cSo families keep less, Washington gets more, and our competitors like China can pop the champagne.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:24:51Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ID=435F4475-7C8C-4D31-93B8-6037398F6632"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8367300033569336, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}