Kamala forecast: Vanishing jobs, trillions added to the deficit, capital gains nearing 50%, and taxed unrealized gains

 The Kamala forecast isn’t looking so sunny, at least according to three leading groups that are largely known for being economically and fiscally aware—Americans for Tax Reform, the Cato Institute, and the Tax Foundation think tank based in Washington D.C.

Harris’s aides acknowledged that the campaign blueprint is a “strategically ambiguous” one, and while anyone who’s been paying attention knows it’s all deceptive to hide her progressivism, she’s dropped a few breadcrumbs here and there about what exactly she has planned were she to ascend to the presidency, and as predictable for someone who either doesn’t understand wealth creation or doesn’t want it for the little guy, the outlook isn’t bright at all.

Let’s start with a new commentary piece from John Kartch at ATR; Harris’s plan regarding raising the capital gains tax at the federal level would push some rates around the country toward the 50% mark:

Kamala’s 33% federal rate + California’s 13.3% rate = 46.3%.

…

Californians will face a top combined federal-state capital gains tax rate of 46.3% under the Kamala Harris tax increase plan. 33% federal + 13.3% state = 46.3%.

Harris recently vowed to raise the top federal capital gains tax rate to 33%. As noted by Wall Street Journal tax reporter Richard Rubin, ‘the all-in top capital-gains rate would be the highest since 1978.’ This is the Jimmy Carter era famous for its economic stagnation.

Kartch provides some context, noting that communist China has a 20% capital gains tax, while the average (socialist) European nation is 17.9%; Kartch also notes that as of now, residents in ten states would be hit with capital gains taxes over 40%: California; New York; New Jersey; Massachusetts; Minnesota; Vermont; Washington; Hawaii; Maine; and Oregon.

Here’s another point that Kartch makes:

Capital gains are not indexed to inflation, so Americans are stuck paying tax on some ‘gains’ that are nothing more than inflation — which is created by Washington and then taxed by Washington. The Biden-Harris high inflation of recent years makes this especially painful.

So, what do certain sectors of the Chinese economy look like, thanks to bad economic policies, like a 20% capital gains policy? Well, not good at all:

Of course, the collapse can’t be entirely blamed on capital gains as it’s just one of many measures that emphasize a communist economy’s failure, but shouldn’t this be a good indicator of where things might go were America to one-up China in this department? You’d think so, but alas, progressives aren’t the most intelligent bunch of voters.

Let’s continue though, with Owen Klinsky’s piece at the Daily Caller News Foundation:

Harris’ proposals, including hiking corporate taxes to be among the highest in the developed world, would lower employment by roughly 786,000 full-time equivalent jobs, and reduce long-run gross domestic product (GDP) and wages by 2% and 1.2% respectively, the Tax Foundation found.

Say buh-bye to the jobs! Things will just go from bad to worse. In the same Tax Foundation report, analysts ran the numbers and predicted that the deficit could grow by $2.6 trillion over the next ten years. 

And, of course, the big one: Taxing unrealized gains. (For a refresher on this, please see an earlier essay I wrote on the topic here.) From Adam N. Michel at Cato:

Harris’s Tax on Unrealized Gains Is Only the Tip of a $5 Trillion Tax Iceberg

Few other countries tax unrealized market gains in the way Harris proposes because it is administratively unworkable. One of the practical challenges is appropriately accounting for losses when the value of an asset declines. If paper gains are taxed, paper losses require a rebate for pre-paid taxes. In 2022, when Elon Musk’s net worth declined by a record-breaking $182 billion, the government would have owed him a $45 billion check—in effect, paying him back some of the taxes he paid in previous years on gains that were only fleeting. Writing the wealthiest Americans large checks when the economy falters would create significant budgetary issues, not to mention difficult political perceptions.

…

Harris’s proposal to tax unrealized gains may appear to target only the wealthiest Americans, but it sets a dangerous precedent that would pave the way for even more aggressive and economically damaging tax increases. This tax is not just an attack on the wealthy; it’s an assault on investment, innovation, and economic growth, risking widespread economic damage that will be felt across the entire economy. And it is just the tip of the iceberg—it’s one of more than 90 proposed tax increases and other changes that target the engine of American prosperity.

Remember, when the federal income tax was introduced in 1913, it only applied to a handful of “ultra wealthy” Americans; look at it now though.

The results are in: Kamala is the “doom and gloom” candidate, and no amount of propagandistic parroting from an obsequious media about “hope” and “joy” can hide it.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/09/kamala_forecast_vanishing_jobs_trillions_added_to_the_deficit_capital_gains_nearing_50_and_taxed_unrealized_gains.html

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/09/ceo-goldman-sachs-slams-kamala-harris-lying-about/