Federal tax plan might extinguish Biden’s promise

President Biden promised not to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 a year no fewer than 60 times on the campaign trail. “That's a guarantee. A promise. I give you my word as a Biden," he told CBS's Norah O'Donnell in 2020. He also pledged not to raise taxes on small businesses.

To pay for a mammoth $3.5 trillion spending bill, Biden risks breaking his promise. One of the proposals to fund the package is a massive increase in tobacco taxes. Cigarette taxes would double, and less dangerous nicotine alternatives like e-cigarettes and FDA-approved products like heated tobacco and the smokeless tobacco snus would be taxed at the same rate as cigarettes.