For small businesses and ordinary Americans, the costs of the legislation are all too real. It would be paid for by the biggest tax increases in generations. Roughly 1.4 million small businesses structured as corporations would see their taxes rise by 26 percent. Small companies structured as pass-throughs would see their access to the 20 percent small business tax deduction dramatically curtailed and would face other tax hikes.

Democrats pushing these tax increases don’t seem to understand that entrepreneurs often put their livelihoods on the line by mortgaging their homes or cashing in their retirement savings to pursue their business dreams. The potential financial rewards must be commensurate with this risk to maintain America’s vibrant and innovative small business culture.

Another cost of what should be called the Build Back Better Broke plan is increased inflation. Trillions of dollars of additional spending would devalue the existing currency. The legislation’s myriad social welfare programs, including free college and universal basic income for families, would exacerbate the ongoing inflationary labor shortage.