The Wall Street Journal - 06.03.2020

A4| Friday, March 6, 2020 PWLC101112HTGKRFAM123456789OIXX ***** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

WASHINGTON—Former

Vice President Joe Biden

would raise taxes by $4 tril-

lion over a decade, concentrat-

ing those higher levies on top

earners, according to a study

of his tax proposals.

Mr. Biden, the front-runner

for the Democratic presidential

nomination, would increase

federal taxes by about 8% as a

whole, but the effects would

vary sharply by income group,

according to the analysis re-

leased on Thursday by the Tax

Policy Center, a Washington re-

search group run by a former

Obama administration official.

The top 1% of households

would pay 74% of the addi-

tional taxes and they would

see their after-tax income

drop by 17% in 2021. That

would be an average tax in-

crease of nearly $300,000.

Middle-income households

would see tax increases aver-

aging $260 in 2021, mostly be-

cause of the indirect effects of

corporate tax increases. That

would be less than 0.5% of af-

ter-tax income.

A Biden economic adviser

said the candidate was com-

mitted to not raising taxes on

the middle class and ques-

tioned how much effect corpo-

rate taxes have on workers.

The Biden tax plan, rolled

out piecemeal throughout his

campaign, is significantly

smaller than the one offered

by his rival for the Democratic

nomination, Sen. Bernie Sand-

ers of Vermont. It would still

mark a reversal of many of the

tax cuts that President Trump

signed in 2017 and includes

proposals that the Obama ad-

ministration could never get

through Congress.

Mr. Biden would raise the

top individual tax rate to

39.6% from 37% and limit de-

ductions for people earning

over $400,000.

People would have to pay

income taxes on unrealized

gains at death. That would

change current law, which ex-

empts those gains and im-

poses taxes only on the differ-

ence between the value at

death and the value when later

sold by heirs.

Capital gains would be

taxed at the same rates as or-

dinary income for taxpayers

with incomes above $1 million.

Social Security taxes would ap-

ply to wages and self-employ-

ment income over $400,000,

rather than being capped at

$137,700 as they are this year.

The corporate tax rate

would rise to 28% from 21%.

Companies would also face a

minimum tax of 15% on their

global profit on financial state-

ments as well as higher taxes

on their foreign earnings.

The Biden plan includes

some targeted tax cuts, includ-

ing some to encourage retire-

ment savings and purchases of

electric vehicles. The Biden plan

doesn’t include some staples of

other Democratic tax proposals,

such as higher estate taxes,

higher payroll taxes to pay for

family leave programs and ex-

pansions of the child tax credit

for low-income households.

The estimates assume that

individual tax cuts would lapse

as scheduled at the end of 2025,

which would mean tax increases

for most households. Democrats

haven’t taken a firm position on

what to do then, but most gen-

erally say they don’t want to

raise taxes on middle-income

households. Preventing that tax

increase would lower the $

trillion estimate, likely by sev-

eral hundred billion dollars.

The center hasn’t released

full estimates of the Sanders

tax plan, which calls for higher

corporate taxes than those in

Mr. Biden’s plan and proposes

an annual wealth tax.

BYRICHARDRUBIN

Biden Tax

Proposal

Would Hit

To p 1%

Change in after-tax income in

2021 under Biden's tax plan

Source: Tax Policy Center

–20% –10 0

Lowest quintile

Second quintile

Middle quintile

Fourth quintile

Top quintile

Top 1%

Top 0.1%

showing support for the for-

mer New York City mayor fall-

ing in several key states after

his disastrous debate perfor-

mance in Las Vegas.

The pre-Super Tuesday

gathering illustrated what

some veteran staffers de-

scribed as the Bloomberg bub-

ble—a uniquely extravagant

experience unlike any other

presidential campaign they

have worked on, according to

more than a half-dozen staff-

ers who worked for the billion-

aire candidate. They described

their time on the campaign as

more in line with the opera-

tions of a major tech company

in Silicon Valley than a typical,

scrappy presidential campaign.

“This definitely was a once-

in-a-lifetime opportunity,” one

staffer said.

Overall, Mr. Bloomberg

spent at least $620 million of

his own money in just three

months of his presidential

campaign. He dropped out

Wednesday after an unsuc-

cessful Super Tuesday and en-

dorsed former Vice President

Joe Biden, ending the “100-

day wild ride,” as some of his

staffers joked.

The ride could continue for

a few hundred of those staff-

ers. Mr. Bloomberg committed

last year to keeping offices

open and staff employed in

competitive states that Presi-

dent Trump won in 2016 until

Election Day. His advisers are

still figuring out how to con-

vert his existing infrastruc-

ture into an outside operation

that can either boost Mr. Bi-

den or stay focused on oppos-

ing Mr. Trump.

Staffers have been told

they will stay on the payroll

through the end of the month,

and those in swing states are

waiting to hear if their em-

ployment will be extended be-

yond that.

For campaign veterans ac-

customed to tight budgets and

constant fundraising strug-

gles, being in the Bloomberg

bubble meant entirely chang-

ing their mind-set and essen-

tially removing money as a

factor in any decision-making.

It also meant significantly

higher salaries, relocation sti-

pends, three catered meals a

day, corporate housing in New

York City, new MacBooks and

iPhones, and fancier hotels for

those on the road with rooms

they didn’t have to share,

among other luxuries they are

unlikely to get on any other

campaign, according to the

staffers and Federal Election

Commission reports.

And all of that was possible

without a campaign schedule

that revolved around blocking

off time for the candidate to

make calls to major donors or

to travel to wealthy enclaves

for fundraising.

Several staffers said there

were many moments—some-

times in a single day—when

they were stunned by the ease

with which decisions could be

made and problems solved

when money didn’t matter.

In certain cases, however,

the lack of constraints made

prioritizing what the cam-

paign needed to do in a short

period harder, some said.

Mr. Bloomberg’s massive

operation, which included

more than 2,400 staffers

across the country, brought in

top talent—those who worked

for Barack Obama and Hillary

Clinton and who served on

campaigns that were sus-

pended last year.

The level of emotional in-

vestment in the Bloomberg

campaign varied widely, staff-

ers said. Many were drawn by

the high salaries and overall

convenience, viewing it as

purely business.

Some staffers said they

saw Mr. Bloomberg as a Dem-

ocratic candidate who could

defeat Mr. Trump, especially

when Mr. Biden was faltering.

But with Mr. Biden now on

the rise and moderates and

black voters coalescing

around him, the staffers said

they no longer felt as invested

in the campaign and were sat-

isfied with Mr. Bloomberg’s

decision to drop out.

In an emotional speech

Wednesday afternoon, Mr.

Bloomberg thanked his staff-

ers, his voice cracking at

times. “I know you didn’t do it

for me,” he said. “You did it

for your country, for America.

And you did it because you

love America as much as I do,

and that’s all I could ever ask

for.”

After the speech, the cam-

paign staffers returned to the

Hard Rock Cafe for one more

celebration. Mr. Bloomberg’s

campaign picked up the tab

again.

About a week before Super
Tuesday, Michael Bloomberg’s
campaign staffers gathered at
the Hard Rock Cafe at Times
Square—around the corner
from their Manhattan head-
quarters—to celebrate.
Mr. Bloomberg had yet to
appear on a ballot, but his ad-
visers wanted to thank staffers
for their work three months
into the campaign and to get
them energized for the con-
tests ahead.
As Mr. Bloomberg’s cam-
paign manager, Kevin Sheekey,
rallied the team with a pep
talk and an open bar and food,
internal data were already

BYTARINIPARTI

Bloomberg Staffers Say Campaign Unlike Others

Mr. Bloomberg acknowledged

campaign staffers in a New

York City hotel ballroom after

ending his bid for president.

JUSTIN LANE/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK

U.S. NEWS

half gravitated to moderate

candidates such as Mr. Biden,

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minne-

sota and Pete Buttigieg, the

former mayor of South Bend,

Ind. Both have since endorsed

Mr. Biden. A Reuters/Ipsos

poll Thursday found Warren

supporters split between Mr.

Biden and Mr. Sanders.

Exit polls in several Super

Tuesday states showed Ms.

Warren saw her strongest per-

formance among white college

graduates. Mr. Biden also car-

ried that group in Texas and

Virginia, both of which he

won. Mr. Sanders led that co-

hort in California and Colo-

rado, each states won by the

Vermont senator.

Asked what her supporters

should do now, Ms. Warren

said: “Well, let’s take a deep

breath and spend a little time

on that. We don’t have to de-

cide right this minute.”

Both Messrs. Biden and

Sanders have called Ms. War-

ren over the past two days,

but neither has described

those conversations in detail.

Speaking to reporters

Thursday in Burlington, Vt.,

Mr. Sanders said he would

love to have Ms. Warren’s sup-

port but was focused on

reaching out to her millions of

supporters “to tell them that,

you know, while Senator War-

ren and I had nuances of dif-

ferences—we did—that there

is no question her agenda she

fought for...is a lot closer to

what I am fighting for then

what Joe Biden” is advocating.

Messrs. Sanders and Biden

will face off virtually alone—

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

is still in the race but had only

one delegate as of Thursday

afternoon—for the first time

in six states on Tuesday. Mr.

Sanders canceled a planned

event in Mississippi Friday so

he could spend more time in

Michigan, a state he won in

his 2016 campaign and where

he hopes to show strength in

the Midwest to counter Mr. Bi-

den’s wins in the South.

Mr. Sanders said Thursday

that Michigan wasn’t a must-

win, however, and that skip-

ping Mississippi shouldn’t

send a negative message to

black voters.

“We’re very proud of the

fact that we have strong sup-

port for the African-American

community, that we are going

to be working with the Afri-

can-American community, the

Muslim community in Michi-

gan and in every state in the

country,“ he said. “I cannot be

in every place at the same

time.”

Mr. Sanders’s backers have

signaled that he would need to

consolidate Ms. Warren’s side

of the progressive base behind

him to compete with Mr. Bi-

den’s emerging coalition of

black Democrats, older voters

and suburbanites.

Max Berger, one of Ms.

Warren’s aides, wrote on Twit-

ter after she dropped out of

the race: “If Bernie Sanders is

going to be the Democratic

nominee for president, he’s

going to need to convince lots

of people who don’t already

agree with him to trust his

leadership.”

—Ken Thomas in

Washington and Eliza Collins

in Burlington, Vt.,

contributed to this article.

WASHINGTON—Elizabeth
Warren’s departure from the
Democratic presidential con-
test left Joe Biden and Bernie
Sanders competing to win
over her largely college-edu-
cated base of support ahead of
a series of primaries over the
next month.
Public surveys indicate Ms.
Warren’s supporters, who
boosted the Massachusetts
senator in national polls but
left her without wins in early-
voting states, could splinter
between Messrs. Biden and
Sanders.
Ms. Warren’s support could
be a boon to each candidate.
Mr. Biden is looking to demon-
strate that he can unite the
Democratic Party after landing
endorsements from several
other ex-rivals and winning a
spate of large, racially diverse
states on Super Tuesday. Mr.
Sanders, meanwhile, hopes to
align progressives to support
him and oppose the former
vice president, around whom
moderates have rapidly rallied.
Speaking to reporters out-
side her Cambridge, Mass.,
home Thursday, Ms. Warren
said she miscalculated how
much room there was in the
party for someone like herself.
She said she felt she was ideo-
logically between Mr. Biden on
the center and Mr. Sanders on
the left.
“I was told at the beginning
of this whole undertaking that
there are two lanes—a pro-
gressive lane that Bernie
Sanders is the incumbent for
and a moderate lane that Joe
Biden is the incumbent for—
and there’s no room for any-
one else in this,” Ms. Warren
said. “I thought that wasn’t
right, but evidently I was
wrong.”
In WSJ/NBC News polling
this year, half of Ms. Warren’s
supporters said their second
choice was Mr. Sanders, with
whom she aligned most
closely on policies such as
Medicare for All. The other

BYJOSHUAJAMERSON

Warren Backers Sought by Rivals

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, with her husband outside their home in Cambridge, Mass., announced the suspension of her campaign Thursday.

AMANDA SABGA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

tive about the Mueller Re-

port—a narrative that is clearly

in some respects substantively

at odds with the redacted ver-

sion of the Mueller Report.”

Judge Walton, who was ap-

pointed by Republican Presi-

dent George W. Bush, said he

would review the full Mueller

report, including the material

not publicly released, to give

Americans confidence that the

Justice Department’s redac-

tions were made for good

cause.

The decision opens the

door to additional parts of the

Mueller report being unre-

dacted and made public.

The Justice Department

didn’t immediately respond to

a request for comment.

The department has previ-

ously defended its handling of

the release of the report, say-

ing it contained substantial

amounts of information that

required redaction.

The judge’s ruling came in a

Freedom of Information Act

case brought by BuzzFeed

journalist Jason Leopold and

the Electronic Privacy Infor-

mation Center, a group that

advocates on civil liberties and

privacy issues.

WASHINGTON—A federal

judge accused Attorney General

William Barr of a lack of can-

dor and questioned his credi-

bility in his handling of the re-

lease of special counsel Robert

Mueller’s report last year.

Judge Reggie Walton of the

U.S. District Court for the Dis-

trict of Columbia said in a rul-

ing there may be reason to be-

lieve that Mr. Barr, in

summarizing the report weeks

before a redacted version was

released to the public, intended

“to create a one-sided narra-

BYBYRONTAU

RATES VALID THROUGH Judge Cites Barr Over Report

APRIL 30, 2020