Top Senate Dem says raising taxes, undoing Trump tax cuts is the 'only way to get rid of inflation'

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed Tuesday the only solution to record-high inflation is raising taxes.

What are the details?

During a press conference, a reporter asked Schumer whether Democrats plan to use the budget reconciliation process to pass legislation (without Republican support) to address the ongoing economic crisis.

"Reconciliation is very, very important," Schumer responded. "If you want to get rid of inflation, the only way to do it is to undo a lot of the Trump tax cuts and raise rates.

"No Republican is ever going to do that. So the only way to get rid of inflation is through reconciliation," he added.

Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Stabenow, and Senator Cantwell Speakyoutu.be

Earlier in the day, Schumer met with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to discuss combatting inflation, which has remained at record levels for months. After the meeting, Manchin signaled support for using reconciliation to pass legislation aimed at tamping down the economic problems.

"Reconciliation to me is about getting inflation under control, paying down this debt, getting a handle on what’s going on," Manchin said after the meeting.

In fact, Manchin supports changing the tax code to achieve those ends. According to The Hill, Manchin voiced support for increasing the corporate tax rate to 25% from 21%, increasing the capital gains tax (which is currently capped at 20%) to 28%, and removing "loopholes" from the tax code to ensure that "everyone pays their fair share."

If Democrats prepare legislation to raise taxes, Manchin stipulated that half of the revenue raised must go toward deficit reduction because that is the "only way you’re going to fight inflation."

The moderate Democrat also clarified that current negotiations are completely unrelated to President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan, which Manchin killed last year.

"There’s nothing formal. There’s no false hopes here. There’s nothing. As far as Build Back Better, there’s no talk about any of that. Just saying, how do we get a handle on inflation?" he said.

What about the 'Trump tax cuts'?

Data from the Internal Revenue Service shows the tax reform bill passed by Republicans in late 2017 has, in fact, greatly benefited middle-class Americans.

"The available evidence is clear: Based on tax data from 2017 and 2018, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced taxes for the vast majority of filers, led to substantial improvements in upward economic mobility, and disproportionately benefited working- and middle-class households, many of which experienced tax cuts topping 18 percent to 20 percent," analysis from the Heartland Institute explained.

Ironically, the San Francisco Federal Reserve has attributed the inflation crisis, in part, to Biden's COVID relief bill, which injected trillions of dollars into the economy.