TPA Sends Letter Urging Congress to Oppose Build Back Better Act

Today, Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) sent a letter to Congress urging members to oppose H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act. This spending is irresponsible and would do lasting damage to the economy. 

The full letter is below and HERE. 

November 18, 2021

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC, 20515

Dear Representative,

On behalf of the millions of taxpayers and consumers, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) asks all members of Congress to oppose H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act as introduced by Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.). This spending package is irresponsible given the record deficits and rising inflation the nation has experienced in recent months. It also includes a number of provisions that would do further damage to the economy.

First, the cost of this package will be far greater than the advertised $1.8 trillion – which is already high enough. Fiscal watchdogs like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimate that, if the temporary provisions of this bill are made permanent, the true cost will exceed $4 trillion. Given the record levels of spending over the last two years, it is time for the government to take its foot off the gas.

The package generates revenue through a series of tax hikes that will limit the growth of the economy in the future. With businesses beginning to recover from the effects of pandemic-related economic restrictions, the government should be encouraging investment and growth. Instead, this legislation implements new taxes on corporations that will hinder their ability to invest in up-and-coming projects and create jobs.

An analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation shows that, starting in 2023, broad swaths of the American middle class will experience a tax hike of above $500 per year. This is a violation of the Biden administration’s pledge not to raise taxes on anyone making fewer than $400,000 a year. This should be rectified before any consideration of this bill takes place.

Another violation of that tax pledge is the increased tax on tobacco products. This will overwhelmingly hit lower income communities. The broadness of this tax will also lump in technologies that are actually designed to help with smoking cessation. Putting the target on the backs of tobacco harm reduction products is shortsighted.

Also of deep concern is the inclusion of heavy-handed price restrictions on prescription drugs. These provisions would severely limit access to life-saving medications by decreasing supply. They would also force drug makers to introduce their cures at astronomically high rates to avoid incurring penalties for price hikes under exigent circumstances. The pharmaceutical industry demonstrated its value during the pandemic, delivering vaccines in record time. Hamstringing them now will ensure we are ill-prepared for whatever may be down the road.

The bill also includes a number of giveaways to special interests. The taxpayers will be on the hook for hundreds of billions over the next set of years due to special tax carveouts for the wind and solar industries. These provisions were meant to expire years ago, but have been extended a staggering 24 times since their inception. If this bill is about letting the American people build back, such cronyism needs to be cut out of any final text.

It is for these reasons, among so many others, that the Taxpayers Protection Alliance opposes the Build Back Better Act. We urge all members to vote “no” if the bill comes to the floor for a vote in its current form. American taxpayers deserve better.

Sincerely,

David Williams

President