George Harrison was angry. The Beatles were world famous, rock superstars earning big

bucks, but their guitarist felt robbed. I had discovered I was paying a huge amount of

money to the tax man, Harrison later wrote. You're so happy that you've finally started

earning money, and then you find out about tax. It was the 95% super tax rate imposed on

very rich Brits by Harold Wilson's Labour government that, in 1966, inspired Harrison to

write tax man. If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat. If you take a walk, I'll tax your

feet, sang the Bogeyman tax collector, reveling in his hold over high earners like Harrison,

and taking 19 shillings for everyone the Beatles was allowed to keep.

It's a perennial dilemma for governments, and one being grappled with in America as Democrats

tried to turn their spending proposals into law. Who should foot the tax bill, and how big

should that bill be? This is Chex and Balance.

I'm John Prado, the economist's US editor. Each week we take one big theme, shaping American

politics, and explore it in depth. Today, how fair is America's tax system?

Democrats are in the midst of a legislative battle with themselves, as they try to turn

President Biden's signature economic proposals into law. They want to get two spending bills

through Congress, the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, and the $3.5 trillion

reconciliation bill that would spend more federal dollars on helping the poor and on climate

change mitigation in particular. To fund this, the Democrats plan to make the federal tax system

slightly more progressive by raising the top rates of income tax and increasing the corporate

tax rate. What is the best way to pay for Joe Biden's vision of America?

With me to discuss all of this are John Fasman, the US digital editor, and...

Wow, it's not playing. That's so annoying. Shall I let your drum roll hang on?

...