Mike Pence labeled 'traitor' after his conservative non-profit launches $10M campaign to preserve Trump-era tax cuts

WASHINGTON, DC: Former Vice President Mike Pence's conservative advocacy group initiated a $10 million educational campaign on Thursday, June 20, aiming to persuade lawmakers to maintain the tax cuts enacted under former President Donald Trump in 2017.

The group, Advancing American Freedom (AAF), issued a policy memo urging Congress members—and the voters who elect them—to uphold the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set to expire after 2025, as per the New York Post.

Policy memo aims to prevent a $3.97 trillion tax increase on income brackets

Pence, aged 65, who was instrumental in passing the bill in the Trump administration's first year, hailed its enactment as “the largest tax cuts and tax reform in American history that let the American people keep more of their hard-earned money and returned jobs to America.”

The 13-page policy memo recommends against increasing taxes for US workers and small businesses, advocates for a reduction in the corporate tax rate to effectively compete with China, and calls for a cutback in substantial federal spending.

Former Pennsylvania GOP Senator Pat Toomey, who was instrumental in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, emerged as the first conservative figure to strongly endorse the Advancing American Freedom campaign.

This initiative will encompass congressional seminars, media campaigns, and grassroots activism throughout the upcoming year.

While Pence has declared he won't support Trump's bid for the presidency in 2024, he is promoting the policy memo as a significant issue for the election period and a legislative focus in the event of a Republican-controlled government in the subsequent year.

Preserving the 2017 law would prevent a tax increase on income brackets totaling $3.97 trillion, according to the memo.

Tax Foundation predicts universal tax increases in 2026

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has cautioned that extending the cuts could lead to a $5.2 trillion rise in the federal deficit, although past estimates have sometimes underestimated higher revenues resulting from a booming economy.

In an April speech to electrical union members, President Joe Biden vowed to allow the law to expire next year if re-elected, criticizing Trump for the nation's increased debt and tax cuts favoring the wealthy and major corporations.

However, a White House official later clarified that tax relief would remain for Americans earning under $400,000 annually, attributing tax hikes on the middle class to Trump and Republicans.

The Tax Foundation has forecasted universal tax increases if the current legislation expires in 2026, with individuals earning an average median income of $75,000 expected to pay an additional $1,700 annually to the IRS.

President Biden has proposed increasing tax rates on the wealthy

Since the current president assumed office, the cumulative "hidden tax" of inflation has surpassed 19%, as reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

President Biden, at 81, advocates for raising the corporate tax from 21% to 28% to increase federal revenue. Conversely, former President Trump, at 78, has proposed to top CEOs in Washington, DC, that he favors a 20% corporate tax rate.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a key legislative accomplishment of the previous president, reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

President Biden has advocated for increasing tax rates on the wealthy as a potential remedy for the nation's escalating debt, even though his presidency has added approximately $3.7 trillion to the deficit.

The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that the budget deficit for 2024 will approach $2 trillion, marking it as the highest in US history outside of war and recession periods.

The office projects that it will reach $50 trillion by 2034.

“The past few years of the Biden administration have shown us that you cannot spend your way out of inflation, and you will not be able to tax your way out of a spending problem,” said Pence, who founded AAF in 2021.

“Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” he added. “Our national debt is out of control, and taxing the American people more is not the solution.”

Internet believes Tax cuts 'are of the wealthy

As soon as the news surfaced on the internet, users started sharing their opinions. One wrote, "Tax RATE cuts. Taxes have not been cut."

Another user mocked Pence saying, "Imagine that, he’s admitting Trump did something right. I really despise that Mike Pence. I’m sure he loses sleep over that!"

A third commentator dubbed Pence as a "traitor."

"These cuts are for the wealthy. Lol Biden wants a 25% tax on billionaires and to raise the corporate tax rate. Trump wants to extend his tax cuts for the rich and lower the corporate tax rate even further, both of which have fueled billionaire wealth and inequality," a person claimed.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.