Skip to Content
IRS Whistleblowers, click here to contact the Ways & Means Committee about waste, fraud, and abuse.

A Thanksgiving Dinner Cheatsheet for the Biden Economy

A handy reference
November 23, 2022 — 'Inflation Reduction Act'    — Bidenflation    — Blog    — Facts Are Stubborn Things    — Press Releases    — Select Revenue Measures    — Supercharged IRS    — Talking Points    — Tax Cuts & Jobs Act   

Thanksgiving is a time to get together with loved ones and express your gratitude. It may also be the occasion for discussions about the economy at the dinner table–as even the White House has noted. Here are some useful facts to have handy for when someone mentions the Biden Administration’s misleading claims.

The IRS is hiring 87,000 agents and will target middle-income earning Americans – while neglecting customer service.

The Facts: Nonpartisan studies have confirmed that middle-class earners will be the targets of the IRS’s audits and enforcement measures. 

  • Even the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that a supercharged IRS with 87,000 new agents will lead to more audits and enforcement measures for families making less than $400,000. 
  • The agency has also amped up its monitoring of those using Venmo, Paypal, and Zelle and is pursuing an invasive bank surveillance scheme, while fumbling its other responsibilities like dealing with a backlog of millions of tax returns and investigating a massive criminal leak of confidential taxpayer information.

READ: Brady on Manchin-Biden Bill: Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers–More IRS Audits Headed Your Way

READ: Brady: Working Americans Will See More Audits as a Result of Dems’ IRS Expansion

The Inflation Reduction Act will not stop inflation and helps special interests.

The Facts: Independent experts have noted the new law will have zero impact on inflation. Meanwhile, special interests get some of the greatest benefit. Here are just a handful:

  • People buying luxury electric vehicles get special tax credits.
  • Companies that use union labor get billions in green giveaways, while union pensions aren’t subject to taxation. 
  • Tech companies producing semiconductors got a special carveout so they can take their $24 billion in new taxpayer subsidies to the bank.  
  • Corporations can purchase new electric vehicles and trucks on taxpayers’ dime. 
  • Companies that have engaged in bribery, or that have been forced to pay penalties or fines for breaking the law, now get to write off these expenses under the book minimum tax — overturning the tax code’s current prohibition on such benefits.

President Biden has created a cruel economy for working families.

The Facts: President Biden has a history of missing even dumbed down expectations – and experts are bracing for a recession.

READ: Americans Worry About Job Losses in a Cruel Biden Recession

READ: Despite Recession Certainty, Biden Doubles Down

President Biden’s student loan bailout is not only unlawful, but a wealth transfer.

The Facts: Despite the Administration’s attempts to target low-income borrowers, top earners will still benefit the most from Biden’s student loan giveaway. 

  • Analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Budget (CFRB) found that America’s highest earners will reap nearly two thirds of the giveaway. That means for 87 percent of American adults without student loans, President Biden is sticking them with a nearly $600 billion tab.
  • Even assuming full participation across incomes, highest earners still reap the most financial reward while lower income borrowers with fewer resources, particularly those who have long been in default or forbearance, are “detached from the system.”
  • The pandemic caused even high-income households to report lower incomes than usual, nullifying the Administration’s means-testing efforts. Those with high earning potential (and therefore are more able to pay off their student debt), such as lawyers and doctors, often take on temporary low-income jobs.
  • Even former Obama-Biden top economic advisor Larry Summers issued a warning that Biden’s mass student loan giveaway will worsen inflation. “‘Student loan relief is not free. It would be paid for. Part of it would be paid for by the 87 percent of Americans who do not benefit but lose out from inflation,’ Summers said.”

READ: Analysis: Biden’s Student Loan Giveaway Would Benefit Highest Earners Most

The Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) led to  increasing wages for the lowest earners and the wealthy paying a larger share of taxes.

The Facts: TCJA helped all Americans by reducing the federal tax rates for households across every income level, while increasing the share of taxes paid by the top one percent.

  • TCJA reduced the average federal tax rate from 20.8 percent to 19.3 percent for all filers.
  • The bottom 20 percent of earners saw their average federal tax rate fall to its lowest in 40 years.
  • Republican tax reform led to the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years.
  • Unemployment reached all-time lows for African-American workers, Hispanic workers, and workers without a high-school degree.
  • American workers also enjoyed the fastest wage growth in a decade.
  • Lower-wage workers won big, with 50 percent higher wage growth than high-income workers.
  • Under-employment dropped to the lowest rate on record.
  • Tax reform achieved the lowest poverty rate in a half century as well as shrunk income inequality for the first time in anyone’s memory.

READ: Five Years Later: Republicans Delivered Historic, Pro-American Tax Reform