Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has dismissed Biden’s proposed attack on the super-rich, claiming it will ‘never happen’.
The president used his State of the Union address on Thursday evening to announce a host of measures against major corporations and Americans worth more than $100 million.
But O’Leary said the proposal was simply a “campaign speech” and “great fodder” that will “fade in 48 hours.” He added that the president’s biggest barrier to re-election was inflation — which his speech did little to address.
The 69-year-old entrepreneur also expressed concern that overtaxing billionaires would lead to them leaving the country.
Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary has criticized Biden’s proposed attack on the super-rich, claiming it will ‘never happen’
He told DailyMail.com exclusively: ‘None of this will ever become law, and everyone knows it. But it’s great campaign rhetoric. There wasn’t much going on in terms of content.
“I’m not being critical, I’m just saying he did the right thing: rallying the troops through themes like ‘tax the rich!’ what worked for him last time.
‘In 48 hours it will disappear and we will be back to where we were. It doesn’t move the needle in either direction.”
President Biden raised eyebrows last night when he promised to reduce the federal budget deficit by $3 trillion through a series of ruthless tax interventions.
The biggest headline was raising corporate tax to 28 percent and the minimum corporate tax rate to 21 percent – an increase of six percentage points from the current 15 percent.
In addition, the White House is proposing a new 25 percent minimum tax on Americans with more than $100 million.
President Biden raised eyebrows last night when he promised to reduce the federal budget deficit by $3 trillion through a series of ruthless tax interventions.
But O’Leary, who has an estimated fortune of $400 million, warned: ‘The problem with wealth taxes is that they have already been tried. They have been tried in Britain and France, but it doesn’t work. People just leave.
‘Now these people pay 46 percent of the taxes, so you have to be careful. You don’t want them to leave the country.
“We’ve already seen some interesting moves from states that have tried to implement these types of wealth taxes. For example, Bezos left Seattle for Florida.’
He quoted A report from the National Taxpayers Association which showed that the top one percent of earners in America paid 46 percent of all income taxes.
Other White House proposals included reviving a Covid-era expansion of the child tax credit.
The move increased benefits from $2,000 to $3,600 for children under six and $3,000 for children under 18.
Central to the housing initiatives were two tax credits. The first would help limit the current costs of a mortgage, the other would aim to increase the housing supply
Biden also discussed lowering the cost of refinancing a mortgage by eliminating lender title insurance on some refinances
And the announcement also included a plan to offer $10,000 tax breaks to first-time buyers and homeowners who sell their properties for less than the median home price in their state.
However, details were scant and did not address the key criteria buyers had to meet.
O’Leary warned that such measures did little to allay concerns about inflation, which are front and center in voters’ minds.
He said: “Inflation is always the enemy of the incumbent. It doesn’t matter who you are in the White House if there is inflation. People go to the polling booth and think about what it cost them for their morning cereal and milk, and how much it cost to fill up the car to drive there.
‘And they vote against that.’