son trial). Someone who steals property from another may be pursued for the civil tort of conversion. In almost every case, the person
wronged, and therefore the person who brings the claim, is the plaintiff. In the case of abortion, the wronged
party has been extinguished. If we can’t depend on criminal enforcement, even if Roe is overturned, and the party who directly suffered harm cannot bring a claim, what’s left? Someone else must enforce the law. A common objection against the Heartbeat Act warns that left-leaning states may use similar laws to punish behavior progressives don’t like. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board asked: “Could California allow private citizens to sue individuals for hate speech? Or New York deputize private lawsuits against gun owners?” Those are fair questions, but Texans
are not responsible for what progressive politicians in California and New York do. In any case, the right to keep and bear arms and the right to free speech are literally present in the U.S. Constitu- tion, whereas the “right” to abortion is a fantasy spun by the ludicrous logic of Roe v. Wade. I believe life begins at conception,
and I believe most Texans are in line with that understanding of human per- sonhood. If they are not, we have free and
fair elections in which they can make their differences understood. Elected officials in other states may take a dif- ferent view and they are not beholden to Texas’ voters. The Heartbeat Act was necessary
because Roe v. Wade attempted to take the question of abortion out of the hands of American democracy. Like it or not, states will keep crafting uncon- ventional means of regulating abortion until the Supreme Court puts the ques- tion back where it belongs.
State Sen. Bryan Hughes represents District 1 in the Texas Senate. This article first appeared in The Wall Street Journal.
Democrats’ $3 Trillion Tax Hike Takes Aim at Middle Class
T
It could also doom them in the midterms. BY BILL HOFFMANN
he house democrats’ latest plan to raise taxes by more than $3 trillion would slam middle-class Americans and throttle the economy, say experts. The huge increase includes big hikes for small businesses and work-
ing families. If enacted, it would be the largest tax boost since 1968 compared to the size of
the economy, according to the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group Ameri- cans for Tax Reform. The proposed legislation, released in September by the House Ways and
Means Committee, was seen as a negotiating starter as Democrats struggle to find ways to pay for President Joe Biden’s unprecedented spending package that would be palatable to both centrists and progressives in the party. Biden needs the cash to fund his proposals for paid family leave, climate
change provisions, and public education. But Grover Norquist, founder and president of ATR, said the spending plan
could spell doom for the Democrats in the midterm elections of 2022. “The longer this goes on, the more people focus on the costs, the more likely the Democrats lose 50 seats in the House, and three or four in the Senate,” Norquist told Newsmax magazine. “America is not going to be excited about a $3 trillion tax increase. Small busi-
nessmen and women and employees and consumers will say, ‘I don’t want higher prices. I don’t want fewer jobs. I don’t want these new taxes of yours. Why are you doing this?’” Norquist’s group says the Democrat plan, if enacted, would: Boost taxes for working families via a hike in the federal corporate income tax rate from 21 percent to 26.5 percent. Trigger higher prices, fewer jobs, and lower wages. Give the U.S. a combined state-federal rate of 30.9 percent — higher than China, which has a 25 percent corporate tax rate, and Europe, which has 21.7 percent rate. Chip away at the life savings of Americans by reducing the value of stocks in brokerage accounts or in 401(k) plans. Sock Americans with higher utility bills. Raise taxes on small businesses by hiking the top income tax rate to 39.6 percent. Limit the 20 percent small business deduction, expand the Obamacare net investment income tax, and curtail the ability of passthroughs to deduct excess business losses. Increase the death tax by cutting the exemption level in half and modifying valuation rules. Impose a 95 percent excise tax on medicines and healthcare policies, in effect reducing access to new, lifesaving, and life-preserving medicines. “This list is of massive size and scope,” Norquist told Newsmax. “Biden wants
high taxes, high regulatory costs, high energy costs — that’s a disaster.” “This bill should be abandoned immediately,” wrote National Review colum-
nist Charles C.W. Cooke. “Right now, our national debt is larger than the entire U.S. economy, and big- ger than it has been at any point since World War II.”
OCTOBER 2021 | NEWSMAX 15
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