The Daily Caller reports, “White House press secretary Jen Psaki downplayed allegations Monday that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden broke city mask mandates when they were seen on video appearing to walk maskless through a restaurant.

Fox News’ Senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy questioned Psaki about the maskless outing Monday.

‘There is a mask requirement inside D.C. restaurants yet President Biden and the first lady were not wearing masks while walking around a D.C. restaurant on Saturday, why?’ Doocy asked.

‘I think what you’re referring to is a photo of them walking out of a restaurant after they had eaten, masks in hand, where they had not yet put them back on yet,’ Psaki said.

Every American deserves an answer from @JoeBiden directly explaining why he thinks is allowed to break rules that he demands others to follow.

pic.twitter.com/fKlfaBwByw

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 17, 2021

‘Of course, there are moments when all don’t put masks back on as quickly as we should but I don’t think we should lose the forest through the trees here, in that our objective here is to get more people vaccinated, make sure that schools and companies around the country can put in place requirements to save more lives and keep people safer and not overly focus on moments in time that don’t reflect overarching policy,’ Psaki continued.

Doocy then pressed Psaki further on video that appears to show the first couple walking through the restaurant maskless while fully masked secret service agents follow.

‘I think I just addressed it, Peter,’ Psaki said, dismissing any further questions about the topic from Doocy.”

Read the entire story.

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Reason’s Peter Suderman writes, “Democrats in Washington… have argued that their policies do not or should not have any costs whatsoever.

Just this week, for example, White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to a question about the tax impact of the $3.5 trillion spending plan now working its way through Congress by declaring that ‘there are some…who argue that in the past companies have passed on these costs to consumers…we feel that that’s unfair and absurd and the American people would not stand for that.’

Democrats have developed a habit of denying basic economics in order to promote their policies https://t.co/67vjNilQ24

— reason (@reason) September 29, 2021

When taxes are raised on corporations—the ‘companies’ in Psaki’s response—corporations often respond by passing that tax on to others. In some cases, they pass costs to consumers. In others, as the Cato Institute’s Scott Lincicome wryly notes on Twitter, they reduce the amount they would have otherwise spent on wages. They have to pay more to do business, and so they make adjustments accordingly. Costs create consequences and tradeoffs.

Empirical research has consistently shown that a large portion of corporate tax increases is actually paid by labor down the line. There are some reasonable academic debates about the precise percentage of the tax paid by labor, and how that might change under certain circumstances. But there is little real debate about whether or not some of the costs are passed on. The point is that it happens. Workers, not owners, pay at least some share of higher corporate taxes.

Yet Psaki’s position—the Biden White House’s position—is that this sort of thing is ‘absurd and unfair.”

Read the entire column.

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FEE’s Brad Polumbo writes, “Multiple studies have shown that the proposed increase in the corporate tax rate from 21 to 26.5 percent would lead to lower wages for workers and higher consumer prices. (A de facto tax increase for those earning less than $400,000 if not technically a direct one.) The press secretary responded to the journalist’s query by downplaying the potential pass-along costs and simply declaring them immoral.

Ha… economic reality doesn’t care whether you think it’s mean or not ? https://t.co/DRlwAwW0Eg

— Brad Polumbo ?? ?‍? (@brad_polumbo) September 28, 2021

‘There are some… who argue that in the past, companies have passed on these costs to consumers,’ Psaki said. ‘We feel that that’s unfair and absurd and the American people will not stand for that.’

That’s nice. But the laws of economics are unmoved by Psaki’s personal condemnation, and Americans who will bear the real brunt of the tax hike proposals certainly care more about what the practical impact will be than the White House’s moral musings.”

Read the entire column.

The post Psaki refuses to acknowledge economic reality because she thinks it’s mean appeared first on Liberty Tree.