President Joe Biden announced plans to increase taxes on big corporations and wealthy Americans during his State of the Union address on Thursday night.
State of the Union: Joe Biden Vows to Make Big Corporations, Billionaires Pay
"It's my goal to cut the federal deficit $3 trillion more by making big corporations and the very wealthy finally pay their fair share," Joe Biden said from the House chamber, as The Washington Times reported.
"Look, I'm a capitalist. If you want to make a million bucks - great... Just pay your fair share in taxes," he added.
According to the White House, the president wanted the corporate tax rate to increase from 21 percent to 28 percent and the corporate minimum tax from 15 percent to 21 percent.
Biden also vowed to end tax breaks for "Big Pharma, Big Oil, private jets, and massive executive pay" and to address the problem that lies in the income cap that shields millionaires and billionaires from having to pay their fair share, The Hill reported.
The president suggested a 25 percent minimum tax for billionaires, while Americans who make less than $400,000 a year should not see their taxes increased.
"No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a sanitation worker, a nurse... That's why I've proposed a minimum tax of 25% for billionaires. Just 25%," Biden said.
The president then criticized former President Donald Trump for enacting "a $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefits the very wealthy and the biggest corporations and exploded the federal deficit."
Biden said the Trump administration "added more to the national debt than in any presidential term" in US history.
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Joe Biden Addresses the Issue of 'Shrinkflation'
Joe Biden also slammed companies for "shrinkflation," criticizing the firms for charging the same prices for smaller packages of snacks. He also slammed companies for "junk fees," surprise surcharges, late fees, overdraft fees, and service charges on concert tickets.
"Too many corporations raise their prices to pad their profits, charging you more and more for less and less," the president noted. "That's why we're cracking down on corporations that engage in price-gouging or deceptive pricing from food to health care to housing."
To eliminate junk fees, Biden launched a new strike force on Tuesday jointly led by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on price-gouging, which he blames for Americans' continued high costs of living.
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