Staff Reports
The recent attempt by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to take credit for a so-called groundbreaking policy of “no tax on tips” is a classic case of political gymnastics that would make any Olympic athlete blush. In the latest exercise of hypocrisy, Vice President Kamala Harris jumped on this “new idea” after its originator, former President Donald Trump, highlighted it during his speech at the Republican National Convention. Apparently, in the minds of the Biden administration, if they can’t come up with their ideas, they’ll just borrow them—whether they like the source or not.
Harris, presumably eyeing a juicy slice of support from tipsy unionized workers in Las Vegas, lifted Trump’s policy and attempted to paint it as her own. Jean-Pierre, undoubtedly wearing her best poker face, announced that not only was this policy fantastic, but that President Joe Biden also endorsed it—despite public records indicating that the duo had never previously shown any inclination to embrace a tax-free environment for tips. The irony swells, of course, when one remembers that Harris played a pivotal role in the Inflation Reduction Act back in 2022, which aimed to endow the IRS with $80 billion, funds earmarked for hiring 87,000 new agents whose primary job would be hunting down tip income.
WTF Karine Jean-Pierre is now saying the Biden administration supports the “no tax on tips” proposal that was spearheaded by Trump back in JUNE
Why hasn’t he mentioned this over the last 4 years? pic.twitter.com/7mCKrwRZkd
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) August 12, 2024
Representative Jim Banks from Indiana took to social media to voice a sentiment that many conservatives were surely thinking: Harris is a fraud. After all, the very people tasked with taxing hard-working tipped employees are the same ones who now want to appear as champions of the working class. Talk about mixed messages! For the administration to pivot from promoting tax collection to suddenly embracing no taxes on tips smells like desperation.
When pressed about this apparent flip-flop in policy, Jean-Pierre was grasping at straws, insisting that Biden and Harris were knee-deep in support of the working population. That raises another question—just what kind of support are they talking about? Do they mean the type that reaps the rewards for their political gains while simultaneously voting to expand the IRS’s capacity to collect taxes? That hardly sounds like a plan designed with workers in mind.
Finally, when asked why they hadn’t previously championed such a worker-friendly policy, Jean-Pierre’s responses verged on comedic. Instead of providing a clear timeline or any real justification, she deflected as best she could, bringing up the minimum wage debate as a distraction. This just served to highlight the fact that the Biden administration’s track record of helping the working class is more of a mirage than a solid policy platform. The failure to provide a coherent answer to what is ostensibly a simple question suggests a deeper truth: the Democrats are out of touch and can’t seem to find their footing in the world of actual governance.
