SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23 , 2021 .THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 A
Itisuncertainwhethertheplan
will be backedbyevery Senate
Democrat and almostevery
House Democrat,the necessary
threshold for its passage.
Theshifting nature of the tax
legislation reflects thechallenge
Democratsfaceint rying to rebal-
ance an American economythat
mosteconomists believe has
grownincre asingly unequal over
the pastseveral decades.
Democratshad largely united
behind increasing taxes on those
earning more than roughly
$500,000 per year,while also
raising the corporatetax rate
paid by largefirms. That ap-
proachwasconsistentwithPresi-
dent Biden’s insi stence that
Americans earning less than
$400,000 per year be spared any
tax hikes,apledge the adminis-
tration considers necessaryto
protectthe political popularity of
any newtaxes.
Thenew path under consider-
ation represents aneven starker
attemptton arrowlytailo rtax in-
creases toavoid political blow-
back.Itw ould shield not only the
lowerand middle classes but also
exempt the bulkoft he top 1per-
cent —concentrating the higher
rates instead on the wealthiest
0.0002 percent.
Theplan would also begin to
addressthe populist tumult that
roiled the Democratic Partydur-
ingthelastpresidentialrace.Sine-
ma spokeinr ecent days about tax
policywith Sen. ElizabethWarren
(D-Mass.), an advocate for the
Wyden planwho helped popular-
ize the idea ofawealth tax on
billionairesduring her campaign,
according to spokespeople for
both senators.
At theoutse tofnegotiations,
Bidenpitchedaplantotax for-
tunes whentheyare passeddown
toheirs,aimingtoclosealoophole
thatallows rich Americans to re-
ceivelargeinheritances tax-free.
Thatproposalcollapsed,however,
amidarevoltfromDemocratsin
Iowa andMontana whowarned
thatitcould hurtfamily farms,
even though Biden was open to
exempting farmsworth less than
BILLIONAIRES FROM A1 $25 million.
“Even before the pandemic,
ther ehadbeendecadesofdramat-
ically rising inequality,especially
atthevery, verytopofthedistribu-
tion.Butth epandemicreallycrys-
tallized the pathologiesofthat
divergence,”said AustanGools-
bee, whoserved asasenior econo-
mistinthe Obamaadministra-
tion.“Nowthatweneed moneyto
payfortheseinvestments,youcan
see whyDemocratswould im-
mediately turn to say:‘Who has
had the greatesttime during this
trying period? It’s the billion-
aires .’”
Someeconomistspointoutthat
rising inequalityrepresents a
much broader phenomenon than
justincreasesinbillionairewealth
and arguethattaxes capturing a
much wider swath of the popula-
tion are probably necessaryto
fund the transformative spending
plans Democratsare pursuing.
Experts are alsogenerally wary
of creatingatax for suchasmall
groupofpeoplethatitmaybeeasy
to avoid, as well as inventing new
tax programs out of whole cloth.
“Countries withamore robust
welfarestatetax everybodyabit
more,rather than justthe rich,”
saidJoshua McCabe,seniorfellow
for policyand welfareat the Nis-
kanenCenter,acenter-rightthink
tank.“Theamountofrevenueyou
cangetfromsqueezingfolksmak-
ing more than $400,000 per year
is small, and if you’relookingat
billionairesit’seven smaller.”
Theproposalwouldbeincorpo-
rated intothe reconcilia tion bill
thatDemocrats hopetop ass soon
and couldhelp offset the roughly
$2trillionthebillislikelytospend
over 10 yearsonavarie ty of new
federal programs.
Theadministration recently
briefedcongressional Democr ats
on other newsources of revenue
thatwould raisetrillionsofdollars
without increasing the corporate
tax rate. Thoseinclu dedtougher
tax enforcement by theIRS, anew
global minimum tax andanew
15percentminimumtaxoncorpo-
rations, amongother measures.
WhiteHouse presssecretary
JenPsaki saidFridaythatthe
spendingplancould“absolutely”
Democrats shift
tax plan’s focus
to billionaires
be paid for without an increase in
thecorporatetaxrate,citingthese
options.
Democratsare still struggling
to reach agreement on their
broadermeasure,althoughHouse
SpeakerNancyPelos i(D-Calif.)
said Friday thatlawmakers hope
tohaveadealwithindays.Thetax
component is justone of many
impasses Democratsmustre-
solve, as theyremain divided over
araftofcompetinglegi slative pri-
orities.
Thebillionaire plan newly un-
der consideration by the Senate
facesobjectionsfromHouseDem-
ocrats, who alreadyadvanced a
roughly $2 trillion packagethat
includedratehikes on the rich
and on corporations. Some tax
experts are also waryofc reating a
complicated newsystem of taxa-
tion inamatterofdays. House
Ways and Means Committee
ChairmanRicha rd E. Neal (D-
Mass.)said theWydenplan could
“becomereall ycompl ex.”
“Whenyoudorates,they’reeffi-
cient and they’re easily imple-
mented.Unlikethe more esoteric
ideas of taxingthisort axing that,rates are simple by nature. People
understand them,”Neal said.
“There’s only one proposal on rev-
enue thathas passedalegislative
body.It’sours.”
Currently, wealthyAmericans
do not have to paytaxes onvast
accumulations of wealth because
theyaretaxedonlyonceanassetis
sold. Billionaires often borrow
againsttheir non-taxedassets, al-
lowingthemtospend enormous
sums of moneywhile effectively
paying verylow taxes relative to
theirincomeand worth.
Under the “BillionaireIncome
Tax” proposal, asummaryof
whichwas obtained byTheWash-
ingtonPost,the federalgovern-
mentwouldrequirebillionairesto
paytaxesontheincreasedvalueof
assetssuchasstocksonanannual
basis, regardlessofwhetherthey
sell those assets. Billionaires
wouldalso be able to takededuc-
tionsfor an yannualloss invalue
of thoseassets.
Theplan would also setupa
system for taxing assets thatare
not easily tradable, such as real
estate.Thetax would apply to
billionairesand peopleearningmorethan$100millioninincome
three yearsinarow.
“A keyofengine of the rise of
wealth inequalityist he ve ry low
effective taxrates billionairescur-
rentlyhave,”saidGabrielZucman,
an economistatt he Universityof
Californiaat Berk eley. “Since the
proposal would significantly in-
crease theireffectivetax rate, it
wouldbeasignificantsteptoward
limitingtheriseofwealthinequal-
ity.”
TheWhite House’s legi slative
ambitions have generally nar-
rowed inrecentweeks as Sinema
and Sen. JoeManchin III
(D-W.Va.)havedemanded major
cuts to the sizeofthe spending
legislation.Butthe centrists have
appeared open in recentdaysto
aggressively taxing America’sbil-
lionaires—typicallyademand of
the le ft.
Sinema has balkedat seeming-
ly more modest proposals toraise
tax rates on wealthyindiv iduals
and big corporations, and they
appear to have fallen out of the
legislation.That has led toare-
newedexploration of taxing bil-
lionaires, in partbecause theremaybeapoliticalupsideforDem-
ocratsintraining the tax hikes on
the extremely rich —mostof
whom livein California andNew
York, rather than swingstates —
rather than on the merely rich.
Aspokesman for Sinema,
John LaBombard, did not con-
firm or denyher supportfor the
billionaire tax.He saidinastate-
ment thatthe senator “is com-
mitted to ensuring everyday
familiescan getahead and that
we continue creating jobs. She
hastold her colleagues and the
presidentthatsimplyraising tax
rates will notina ny wayaddress
the challengeoft ax avoidance or
improve economic competitive-
ness.”
White House officials have
beeninvolvedincraftingtheplan,
while officials at the TreasuryDe-
partmenthaveprovidedguidance
as well, people familiar withthe
matter said. Biden has already
publicly endorsed the concept.
[email protected]
[email protected]SeungMin Kimcontributedto this
report.JABIN BOTSFORD/THE WASHINGTON POST
Democ raticSens.ElizabethWarren(Mass.)andRo nWyden(Ore.)talktoreportersonCapitol HillinJuly.Duringla styear’ spresidential
campaign,Warrenadvocat edfo rawealth taxonb illionaires,andWydenis nowdr aftingsimilarlegislation.creasethe trial size,partl ytoi n-
creas eitssaf etydatabase,thetotal
sizeofthe trialwas doubled to
about 4,500children.
Thecompanies reportedthat
the vaccine triggered an immune
responseinparticipantsequiva-
lent to the one thatprotected
teensand youngadults .Theyalso
reportedthe vaccine was 91 per-
centeffective,with 16 cases of
covid in the placebo groupand
threeinthevaccinegroup.Noneof
the cases was severe.
Nocasesofh eartinflammation,
calledmyocarditis, were reported
in the trial.Thatrare sideeffect
has beenassociated withthe vac-
cine, particularly in younger
males,and typically resolves after
afewdays.
Robert W. Frenck Jr., director of
theGambleVaccineResearchCenter
at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
MedicalCenter,saidthatathishospi-
tal, manycasesofmyocarditis have
been treated with an anti-inflamma-
tory.
Relatively mild side effects
fromthe vaccine were mostcom-
mon after the second dose and
included fatigue,muscle aches,
headache,chillsand fever.
Thevaccineisalowerdosethan
the shot given to adults and is
planned to be shipped in cartons
with10vials, each containing 10
doses.Itw ill be sent with supplies
for children, including smaller
needles.Thevaccinecanbestored
for up to 10 weeksat refrigeration
temperatures.
Pediatriciansare anticipating a
variety of re sponses fromparents
and families once thevaccine be-
comesavailable.There will prob-
ablybeaninitialsurgeind emand.
Butvaccin ehesit ancy maybe an
evenbiggerissueforyoungerchil-
dren.
Talaatsaidshe hoped pediatri-
cians,trusted health-careprovid-
erswho have often known chil-
dren since birth,wouldhelp per-
suadefamilies, particularlythose
whoare inthe middle—notclam-
oringfor avaccin e, but notop-
posed to one either.
“The vaccine justallows us that
oneextralevelof safetytokeepour
kidsinschool and keep them
healthyand to keep classesfrom
shutting down,”Talaatsaid.
[email protected]
[email protected]DanKeatingcontributedtothisreport.questionsaboutthevaccine.
In the company briefing docu-
ment, Pfizerand BioNTech argue
thatauthorizationofacoronavi-
rusvaccineforchildrenint hisage
group“could prevent harms that
include,not only interruption of
education,but also hospitaliza-
tion, severe illness, long-term se-
quelae, and death.In addition,
vaccinatingthispopulation will
likely reduce community trans-
mission, includingtransmission
to older andmore medicallyvul-
nerable individuals.”
Unlike older people, mostchil-
drenare notat high riskofsevere
covid-19 infections. Butat least
637 havedied of the disease,ac-
cordi ngtoCDCdata.Pfizer’s brief-
ing documentsaid 143ofthose
deaths have been withinthisage
groupandthatoverthefirsthalfof
thisyear, covid was among the 10
leadingcausesof death for chil-
dren5to14. There have been 1.
millionconf irmedcases of covid-
19 in the agegroup.With thestart
of the schoolyear coinciding with
thedominanceofthehighlytrans-
missibledeltavariant,about a
quarter ofthe coronavirusinfec-
tions reportedinrecent weeksin
the United States have beenin
children.
“Las tyear, whenwehad lower
rates of covidinchildren, wekept
kidsath omeandwerefusedtoput
themintoschools,and theysuf-
feredtremendously.I’m really
gladschoolsopened,but we are
seeing high,high rates:41kids
died lastmonth,” saidKawsarTa-
laat, avaccine researcherat Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Healthwho is aprincipal
inve stigator forthe Pfizer-BioN-
Tech pediatrictrial. “If there’s a
waytostop that,we shoulduse
everything we have.”
Testsofthe Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine ineven youngerchildren
are following close behind,and
dataareexpectedbeforetheendof
the year—firstonchildren be-
tween 2and 4years old,and then
on children as youngas6months.
Thevaccine regimen for5-to
11-year-old children istwoshots,
each one-thirdthe dose givento
adultsand teensand adminis-
tered three weeksapart.There
were 2,268 children originally in
Pfizer’s trial,two-thirds of whom
received the realshotswiththe
restreceiving aplacebo. After reg-
ulatorsasked thecompanytoi n-whorecommend how vaccines
should beused, are scheduled to
meetNov.2and 3.
TheWhite House has drawnup
aplan fordistributing thevaccine
to pediatrician’soffices,pharma-
cies,hospitalsandothersites.Fed-
eral healthofficialsproje ct thatin
the firstweek, 15 million dosesof
the two-shot regimen will be
shipped.
Vaccinations are planned to be
availableatmorethan25,000pedi-
atrician and primary-care offices,
100 children’s hospitals and health
systems,tensofthousandsofphar-
macies, school and community
clin ics, communityhealth centers
andruralhealthclinics.Publicedu-
cation campaigns will help answercine-related myocarditis cases
have tendedtoresolve inafew
days ,unlik ecovid-19 infections,
which can lead to death.
Thereviewrepresentsthe first
independentevaluationofcom-
panydataand arrives ahead of a
pivotal meeting next week at
which outsideexperts aresched-
uledtodebateand voteonwheth-
er th evaccine shouldbeauthor-
ized. Extendingvaccine eligibility
to children younger than12has
beenamajor goal of public health
officialsand eagerlyawaited by
manypediatricians and families.
Pfizer anditsGerman partner
BioNTechreported inaseparate
documentpostedFridaythattheir
coronavirusvaccineis 91 percent
effective in5-to 11-year-olds.
TheFDA analysis of thepediat-
ric vaccines arrivedon the same
dayanother milestone was
reached in the questtoi mmunize
Americansagainstavirusthathas
killedmore than733,000people
inth eUnitedStates.Boostershots
of th eModernaand Johnson&
Johnsonvaccines becameavail-
ablefor some people Fridayafter
federal regulatorsthisweek gave
their blessing tothe additional
doses and declared thatpeople
who are eligible for an additional
shot couldgetany shot asaboost-
er regardlessofwhichvaccine
theyoriginallyreceived.
That leavesvaccines for young-
er children as the lastregulatory
frontier in thenation’shistoric
vaccination campaign.
On Tuesday,outside experts
will meetand discussthe data to
informtheFoodandDrugAdmin-
istr ation’s decision on oneofthe
mostmomentous remaining
questions for the pandemic. The
authorization ofavaccinefor
school-age child renwouldopen
coronavirusvaccine eligibilityto
an estimated 28 million children
intheUnitedStatesandrepresent
an important turningpoint in the
nation’s effortto controlthe vi rus.
Thevaccination campaignis
anticipated to launch asearly as
the firstweek ofNovember,after
thePfizer-BioNTech shot clears
keysteps.
Adecision by FDAregulatorsis
expected in the days afterTues-
day’sadvisorycommittee meet-
ing. Advisers to th eCenters for
Disease Controland Prevention,
VACCINE FROM A
Pfizer, BioNTech report vaccine is 91 percent effective for children ages 5to
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89,411,963,733,
Yesterday 2,Yesterday 952,3 75TotalDEATHSTotalVACCINE DOSESADMINISTEREDNewcoronavirus cases, deaths and
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Sant aMonicaPieras
coron avirusshutdownswere
relaxedinCaliforni aearlier
thisyear.TheWhiteHousehas
drawnupaplanfor
distributingthevaccineto
pediatricians’offices,
pharmacies,hospitalsand
othersitesforchildre nages
to11ne xtmonth ,onceexperts
givethegr eenlight.