With corporate tax off table, U.S. Democrats turn to billionaires to fund spending bill

FILE PHOTO: A U.S. flag flies outside of the Capitol dome in Washington
FILE PHOTO: An American flag flies outside of the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, U.S., January 15, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

By Jarrett Renshaw

U.S. Democrats are expected to unveil a tax plan on Monday that would seek to raise hundreds of billions of dollars from the country’s roughly 700 billionaires to help pay for expanding the social safety net and tackling climate change.

Democrats were forced to shift to the unorthodox plan in the face of opposition from one of their own senators, Kyrsten Sinema, to raising the corporate tax rate and the top personal income tax rate to pay for the hefty spending plan, which is a pillar of Democratic President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda.