President Joe Biden intends to go big – very big – in his infrastructure spending proposal. But to help pay for the estimated $4 trillion in new spending Biden wants, there may also be a big tax hike…reportedly, $3 trillion.

Details of the tax hike are still being ironed out. A $3.1 trillion model of tax hikes Biden proposed in the 2020 presidential campaign can be found here.  

Regardless of the exact line items in the final proposal, it “would represent the largest tax hike in generations.”

Republicans are dismissing the idea of a massive tax increase. But some Democrats are against the idea, too:

…Biden’s plan to pay for his coming infrastructure package with big tax hikes already is meeting some resistance from moderate Democrats, a stumbling block for his progressive ambitions.

Why it matters: If this discomfort turns to outright opposition in the House and Senate, Biden will face a complicated path to cover more than $3 trillion he is expected to seek, in multiple proposals, for infrastructure as well as social welfare.

Between the lines: Two moderate Democratic senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — have drawn the most attention as potential obstacles to Biden’s agenda. But the president also faces headwinds in the House of Representatives, where Speaker Pelosi can lose just three Democratic votes if Republicans are unified in opposition.

To be clear: Democrats aren’t against tax increases. They just differ on the amounts and specifics. Some, particularly from high tax states in the Northeast, want the tax breaks they lost in the 2017 tax cut bill restored before they will sign on to any Biden plan.

Image Credit: Gage Skidmore Flickr