Conservative Ads Make Distorted Claims About the Effect of Biden's Tax Proposal

President Joe Biden's 2022 budget proposes providing refundable tax credits to low- and middle-income Americans and increasing taxes on high-income earners.

But the impact of the Biden plan on taxpayers was distorted in ads the conservative Club for Growth started airing in mid-September. The ads, which targeted nine vulnerable House Democrats and one centrist House Republican, claimed that the president's plan "could cost your family" thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

While that could happen for some, it probably won’t for most.

As Deputy Managing Editor Rob Farley wrote:

"In the first year of Biden’s proposed budget, 2022, nearly nine out of 10 households would see a tax cut, according to the Tax Policy Center. By the 10th year, 2031, only a quarter of households would be getting a tax cut, but still, most households would, on average, see a tax increase of $430 or less.

"Those with very high incomes, specifically the less than 1% of Americans making over $1 million per year, would bear the majority of the tax increases. Those people could, on average, see tax increases in the hundreds of thousands of dollars."

Some of the ads also used cherry-picked data from the pro-business Tax Foundation, whose analysis actually shows thousands of dollars in average tax savings -- rather than tax increases -- for taxpayers in the congressional districts of four legislators targeted in the ads.

For the full analysis, read "Ads Distort How Much Biden’s Tax Plans Could Cost 'Your Family.'"

Reader: Is the story about a Harvard epidemiologist who states natural immunity is better than vaccines true?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: I believe you are referring to Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who has stated his opinion on many occasions that natural immunity is better than vaccines. He also opposes vaccine mandates and face masks for children.

As for natural immunity vs. vaccines, we have written about this several times – most recently earlier this month in our story, “Instagram Post Missing Context About Israeli Study on COVID-19 Natural Immunity."  

At that time, we wrote: "It’s true that in many cases, natural immunity can provide better protection from certain diseases than immunity from vaccination, as we’ve written before. But we’ve also written about scientific studies that show the benefits of vaccination for those who contracted the coronavirus and then recovered from infection.

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends that people still get vaccinated regardless of whether they already had COVID-19, because it’s not known how long someone is protected from getting COVID-19 again after recovering from the disease. A small proportion of people who had an infection may not develop much immunity at all."

The CDC says: "Evidence is emerging that people get better protection by being fully vaccinated compared with having had COVID-19. One study showed that unvaccinated people who already had COVID-19 are more than 2 times as likely than fully vaccinated people to get COVID-19 again."

For more about the benefits of vaccination for those who have contracted SARS-CoV-2, you can read our article, “Vaccines Benefit Those Who Have Had COVID-19, Contrary to Viral Posts,” from April.

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Generals Contradict Biden on Afghanistan Advice": Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Mark Milley and Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, contradicted President Joe Biden’s claim last month that top military advisers didn’t recommend keeping a residual force in Afghanistan. 
• "Facebook Posts Distort Robert E. Lee’s Actions and Views on Slavery": A statue commemorating Gen. Robert E. Lee was taken down in Richmond, Virginia, on Sept. 8. Days after the statue was removed, Facebook posts about Lee misleadingly claimed he freed his slaves, and a quote from Lee referring to slavery as a “moral evil” is taken out of context, misrepresenting his attitude toward slavery.
• "Trump Rejected Generals’ Advice, Too": Rep. Mike Rogers, the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said congressional testimony this week showed that President Joe Biden ignored the advice of top generals about what to do in Afghanistan while former President Donald Trump “did listen to it.” But Trump went against his advisers, too. 

• "Mensajes difunden afirmaciones falsas sobre ivermectina y esterilidad masculina": La Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos (FDA, por sus siglas en inglés) dice que la infertilidad masculina no es un efecto secundario de la ivermectina, un medicamento antiparasitario. Afirmaciones dudosas de que la medicina esteriliza al 85% de los usuarios varones fueron incorrectamente atribuidas a un estudio cuestionado del 2011 sobre los efectos del fármaco en una muestra pequeña de hombres nigerianos con oncocercosis, una enfermedad tropical también conocida como “ceguera de río”.
   
• "Publicaciones en redes sociales desinforman sobre vacunas contra el COVID-19 y muertes en Afganistán": Afganistán ha implementando un programa de vacunación contra el COVID-19 y, aunque la administración de vacunas se ha retrasado debido a conflictos armados internos, el programa aún está en marcha. Pero algunos destacados conservadores proveedores de desinformación en EE. UU., han hecho afirmaciones falsas sobre los esfuerzos de vacunación y el impacto de la pandemia en Afganistán..
   
• "Ensayos clínicos en curso decidirán si la ivermectina es (o no) segura y eficaz contra el COVID-19": Los estudios sobre si la ivermectina es beneficiosa en el tratamiento de pacientes con COVID-19 no han sido concluyentes, por lo que los funcionarios de salud pública han advertido al público no automedicarse. Pero varios ensayos de gran escala continúan evaluando el medicamento antiparasitario. Sin embargo, según informes de prensa el senador Rand Paul dijo que los investigadores “no están dispuestos a estudiarla objetivamente” por “odio” a Donald Trump. Más tarde el senador admitió que sí se están realizando estudios. Aquí revisamos la investigación en curso.
   
• "Publicación en redes sociales sobre uso de ivermectina en refugiados carece de contexto": Los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) recomiendan el uso de ivermectina para tratar infecciones parasitarias en refugiados que llegan a Estados Unidos. Pero en una publicación en las redes sociales la Dra. Simone Gold, quien promueve el uso de ivermectina para tratar el COVID-19, menciona la recomendación de los CDC sin explicar con exactitud la razón por la cual se les da el medicamento a los refugiados. Los CDC han advertido contra el uso de ivermectina para prevenir o tratar el COVID-19.