President Joe Biden has fought his entire presidency to increase the corporate tax rate while also increasing tax loopholes and giveaways. This may sound contradictory: Why are you increasing corporations’ taxes and cutting their taxes at the same time?

But higher rates and more loopholes is a perfectly consistent tax policy if you see the tax code as a way to increase government power — and also to influence the behavior of companies. A high tax rate combined with a complex code has added benefits for politicians, such as milking companies for campaign contributions and lining up post-government lobbying and consulting jobs for political insiders.