Rapper 50 Cent doesn’t want to be 20 Cent if Vice President Joe Biden is elected. He says he is supporting President Donald Trump because of Biden’s tax plans and says others should too.
Curtis James Jackson III (known as 50 Cent) triggered social media and the media after tweeting his rejection of Biden’s proposed tax increases that would leave him with a 62 percent tax rate as a New York City resident.
The trolls came out in force, but he dug in deeper adding that it would be “a very, very, bad idea.”
50 Cent joins a handful of black entertainers who have shown a willingness to support or work with the Trump Administration.
Recently, rapper and actor Ice Cube took heat for working with the Trump campaign to incorporate ideas from his Contract with Black America, a plan for the economic upliftment of black Americans, into the president’s Platinum Plan, a slate of new proposals aimed at economic progress for blacks. Both campaigns reportedly contacted Ice Cube about his ideas but the Biden campaign said they would not do anything with it until after the election, whereas the Trump campaign acted immediately.
Whatever their personal beliefs or political leanings, both of these men are pushing blacks to think critically about what policies a President Biden would advance and whether they would be better for blacks.
Not too long ago, female rapper Cardi B blasted New York’s 40 percent tax rates. I wonder how she might feel about paying 62 percent?
You don’t have to be a millionaire entertainer to know that despite what he says, Joe Biden’s tax plans are likely to raise your taxes, cost jobs, and hurt the economy.
Economists at the Hoover Institute just released an analysis of Biden’s tax plans and predicted that if implemented they would cut 4.9 million jobs, cut the gross domestic product by $2.6 trillion, and cut median household incomes by $6,500 over the next decade.
A Wall Street Journal editorial explained that Biden’s big government spending plans come at a hefty cost and taxing the rich (like 50 Cent ad Cardi B) won’t be enough:
Mr. Biden contends that tax hikes on the rich will be sufficient to pay for his new programs. But the numbers don’t add up. Even before accounting for his other spending proposals—such as increasing ObamaCare subsidies—a public option would require record-high tax increases on corporations or high-income taxpayers.
So they are coming for the middle class too.
This is the wrong direction and at the wrong time. Median household incomes hit their highest levels in 2019 including for blacks. We need to spur the economy forward and not penalize success.
Success doesn’t have to mean you can afford to buy a Birkin bag and a Bentley. Success can be a two-income household making in the low to mid-six figures and living in an expensive city like New York City, San Francisco, or Washington, D.C. They are considered rich for tax purposes, but wouldn’t say they live the life of luxury nor do they feel it fair to be penalized for their achievements.
A President Biden would reverse the positive course of upward mobility that blacks had been enjoying, which occurred sluggishly under President Obama, but picked up pace under President Trump.
We need more prominent and influential blacks to at least be honest that expensive spending plans and higher taxes drag down wealth creation for the black community.