Biden pulls page from Bernie Sanders’ Tax-the-Rich playbook to push for tax hikes

President Biden on Wednesday adopted a rhetoric that has long been used by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., As he advocated a corporate tax hike to fund his $ 2 trillion infrastructure initiative .

The President proposed to raise the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21% to increase income and noted during a speech in Pittsburgh on Wednesday that 91 Fortune 500 companies have successfully evaded federal tax obligations in 2019, according to an analysis.

“It’s just plain wrong,” Biden said. “A firefighter and a teacher paying 22%, Amazon and 90 other big companies paying no federal tax?” I will put an end to this.

BIDEN’S $ 2T INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN WILL BE FINANCED BY THE PROPOSED BUSINESS TAX INCREASE

Sanders has long criticized large corporations for paying little or nothing in federal tax obligations. Amazon claimed it was paying whatever it owed.

In addition to seeking to get America’s largest corporations to pay what he sees as their share of taxes, Sanders has also supported and proposed various policies aimed at raising taxes for wealthier Americans. He regularly cites statistics on the richest 1% accumulating wealth – including a recent tweet in which he noted that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk had more wealth than the poorest 40% of Americans.

Biden made similar comments on Wednesday when considering his proposal to raise income tax for individuals and households earning more than $ 400,000, saying the richest 1% saw their net worth increase by $ 4 trillion during the pandemic.

However, he said his tax hike proposals were neither intended to “punish” or “penalize” the rich, but rather to open up opportunities for everyone.

“I have nothing against millionaires and billionaires,” Biden insisted. “I believe in American capitalism.”

Additionally, Biden was keen to show his support for creating and sustaining union jobs, which is another key priority for Sanders. The independent senator from Vermont recently visited Amazon workers in Alabama before holding a vote on whether to unionize.

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Sanders’ office did not return FOX Business’s request for comment on whether the senator was involved in crafting the proposal.

Progressives in the Democratic Party had urged Biden to appoint Sanders as labor secretary, which was given instead to Boston mayor Marty Feldstein.

Biden, however, pledged in January to work closely with Sanders on a joint agenda to promote worker power.

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Biden’s proposed changes to the corporate tax code are expected to raise $ 2 trillion in 15 years, according to the White House, which said the taxes would be used to reduce the deficit afterwards.

Biden said his proposal would build a fair economy from the “bottom-up” and “middle-out” that gives everyone a chance to succeed.

He is expected to set out the details of his plan to raise income tax rates for wealthy people in mid-April when he introduces additional collection legislation.