America
capital stock by $1.25 trillion, and boost GDP by roughly $625 billion by 2031. That translates to an additional
$4,300 for the average household. Opponents of capital gains index-
ing say the associated revenue loss for the government would be too great. But inasmuch as inflationary
gains should not have been taxed in the first place, a revenue loss is a good thing. It represents the correc- tion of a tax injustice. Then consider the second-order
effects. Without the federal tax on inflationary gains, asset prices will adjust until they reach a new, higher equilibrium. Shareholders and other investors
will see their portfolios grow, and the federal government will collect bil- lions of dollars in new tax revenue as taxpayers realize real capital gains.
4
OPEN ENERGY SPIGOTS Given energy’s vital role in pro-
duction and economic growth, we ought to encourage, not discourage, domestic energy production. Upon entering office, the Biden administration declared war on Amer- ica’s hydrocarbons industry. Literally, on day one, the administration issued an executive order blocking the Key- stone XL pipeline. The administration then sought to
impose a moratorium on oil and gas leases on federal property. During the previous administra-
tion, the U.S. became a net petroleum exporter for the first time since 1949. That was no accident. New tech-
nologies and federal public policies supporting energy development made that achievement possible. The Bureau of Land Manage-
ment recently admitted that “Ameri- cans enjoy a quality of life today that depends largely upon a stable and abundant supply of affordable energy.” The Biden administration should
listen to its own analysis. How does cutting domestic energy production accomplish that? Or help with jobs? Or help with tax revenue? Or help with
16 NEWSMAX | APRIL 2023
the economy? Congress must act to unleash American energy production that will power our nation’s economic growth.
5
REPEAL SOCIAL SECURITY EARNINGS TEST
As the U.S. faces critical labor short- ages, current law incentivizes younger seniors, including some of the coun- try’s most experienced workers, to retire, withholding their labor from the market. The “earnings test” now in place
targets Social Security beneficiaries who have yet to reach full retirement age, reducing their Social Security ben- efits if they earn “too much” income. In 2023, seniors earning as little
as $21,240 may be subject to the test and could lose as much as $1 of ben- efits for every $2 of income above the exempt amount.
The “earnings test” now in place targets Social Security beneficiaries who have yet to reach full retirement age, reducing their Social Security benefits if they earn “too much” income. When Congress passed the Senior
Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act of 2000, permanently repealing the earnings limit that existed at the time for those who had reached full retire- ment age, the Bipartisan Policy Cen- ter (BPC) reported: “People no longer subject to it [the reduction in benefits] became 1 to 4 percentage points more likely to participate in the labor force.” The BPC then cited studies that
found the retirement earnings test’s “depressing effects on work are stron- ger for younger workers.”
This suggests that eliminating the
earnings test altogether would have an even larger positive impact on the labor force. Returning the U.S. labor force par- ticipation rate to its February 2020 level of 63.3% would add an additional 2.5 million people to the labor force and significantly mitigate the ongoing labor shortage.
6
RESTRAIN BIDEN’S REGULATORY ZEAL
To date, the administration has bal- looned annual regulatory costs by $357.4 billion, a shocking 71% increase above the annual increase imposed by this point during the Obama admin- istration.
Moreover, federal regulators esti-
mate it will take an additional 218 mil- lion hours annually to complete the paperwork required to comply with the increased regulatory burden. To put these numbers in perspec-
tive, $357 billion roughly equals Paki- stan’s total annual economic output, and processing 218 million hours of paperwork would require nearly 105,000 people working eight hours a day, five days a week, 52 weeks per year. And that’s just to process the
increase, not the total regulatory bur- den, during the Biden administration. Again, to put the Biden administra-
tion’s numbers in perspective, at this point during the previous administra- tion, the regulatory burden had fallen by $2 billion. How was that achieved? Within
weeks of assuming office, Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13771 to repeal two regulations for every new regulation issued. Not surprisingly, Biden rescinded
it on his first day. Congress should codify 13771.
James Carter is the director of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Prosperity. Previously, he served as deputy undersecretary of labor under President George W. Bush.
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