George Gibbs Center for Economic Prosperity

B⁠i⁠den’s Agenda To Cos⁠t⁠ $36 ⁠t⁠r⁠i⁠ll⁠i⁠on, Up To $49K Per Fam⁠i⁠ly: S⁠t⁠udy

By: The James Madison Institute / 2020

A new economic study of the Biden-Harris agenda has put the added cost to taxpayers at over $36 trillion over the next decade, and it warned that it would send the economies of five key battleground states spiraling into deficits.

In its report shared with Secrets, the James Madison Institute said that the biggest added cost, $32.6 trillion, would come from Joe Biden’s healthcare plan. The next biggest hit would be $3.8 trillion from eliminating the Trump tax cuts by adding them back to paychecks and corporate taxes, which the Democratic ticket has promised to do on their first day in office.

In the report, titled “US Presidential Economic Analysis Battleground States 2020,” JMI found that the Biden economic plan would hit hard Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and Wisconsin, the states expected to deliver this year’s presidential victor.

The report, which tested Biden’s plan against the current Trump budget and agenda, found that individuals and families in those states could feel a bigger bite out of their budget. Its breakdown of additional taxes per resident and a family of four over the next 10 years:

  • Florida — $9,389 per resident and $37,556 family of four.
  • Michigan — $8,142 / $32,556 family of four.
  • Ohio — $12,299 / $49,197 family of four.
  • Pennsylvania — $10,605 / $42,419 family of four.
  • Wisconsin — $9,020 / $36,078 family of four.

“If we have learned anything from this incredibly unique year, it is that the economy can turn on a dime, and policies matter greatly. We face a perilous fight to return to prosperity, and what happens in Washington, D.C., will filter down to each state in different ways,” said J. Robert McClure, president and CEO of JMI.

“Both presidential candidates would approach America’s challenges differently, and their policy agendas absolutely reflect that. Those policy agendas will have tremendous and long-lasting impacts on our economy, and that’s why JMI commissioned this study — to inform and educate voters for Election Day,” he added.

Several tax groups have studied Biden’s plans and found it to be costly, especially when factoring a version of “Medicare for All” and plans to institute expensive climate change policies.

While the study focused on the impact to the five battleground states, it tabulated the overall costs of Biden’s key economic features, listed below:

  • Healthcare — Medicare for All: $32.6 trillion.
  • Climate — Green New Deal: $2.0 trillion.
  • Education –— Higher ed subsidies: $1.3 trillion.
  • Trade and regulations: $700 billion.
  • Total: $36.4 trillion.

“While it may be a fashionable idea these days to order the U.S. Treasury to print money and the Federal Reserve to go along, ultimately the money to pay for those proposals comes from taxpayers,” said the report’s executive summary.

“The continuation of that path, along with several others proposed by former Vice President Biden and Senator Harris, will be borne by all of us – both in the taxes we pay and the economies we withstand,” added the report, shown below.

To read JMI’s full report, “Battleground States 2020”, click here: https://jamesmadison.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Journal_Web_Fall2020_v04.pdf.