Congress, we need Deficit reduction NOW!
Congress, don't turn your back on America's Middle Class for the failed "trickle down" experiments.
"The Shocking Math of the Republican Tax Plan"
By Adam Davidson November 17, 2017
It is simple. Crunch the numbers and see how the rich get richer under the GOP "tax cut." This tax plan is like boiling a frog in a pot. Over time the lower class, people making less than $30K will "boil."
"The U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation is run by the chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee—Representative Kevin Brady and Senator Orrin Hatch, respectively. The Joint Committee’s reports of this week make startling reading, or as startling as a series of spreadsheets of tax revenue data can be."
More.
"The report shows that this bill is much like a teaser rate on a new credit card: there are some goodies in the first couple of years, but those disappear fairly quickly, at least for those below the median income. "
This is an ugly trick.
In 2019, the first full year that this bill would be law, the benefits are concentrated on the bottom of the income stream, with middle-class people, on average, paying just under ten per cent less in taxes than they would if the law weren’t passed. With each passing year the benefits shift upward, toward the rich. By 2021, those making between twenty thousand and thirty thousand dollars a year are paying considerably more [MORE] in taxes, those between thirty thousand and two hundred thousand see their benefit shrinking, and those making more start to see their taxes falling."
This is the start of the end . . . the trick is revealed, but no one will notice.
"The report shows that the rich benefit and the poor are hurt in every way that it measures."
THESE guys wrote the report referred to here: members of the U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation, chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, Representative Kevin Brady and Senator Orrin Hatch, respectively. Why do these me do America like they do. They are passing a cruel tax bill, completely a trick, a teaser rate . . . We are supposed to cross our fingers and hope corporations will help Americans.
"That is the state of debate on this current bill. Its most respected defender acknowledges that three-quarters of the benefit are a wasted, harmful gift for the rich, but a quarter of the benefit goes to corporations, and we must assume they will spend it wisely."
Economists say cut or increased taxes have no direct, clear link to increased growth in business activity or jobs. There are too many other factors involved beyond the effects of tax cuts or tax increases. The Law of Unintended consequences is certain to prevail.
"FACT CHECK: Do Tax Cuts Grow The Economy?"
by Danielle Kurtzleben October 30, 2015
"The Big Question:
Does reducing taxes grow the economy?
The Long Answer:
Tax cuts can boost economic growth. But the operative word there is "can." It's by no means an automatic or perfect relationship."
"Trump Tax Plan Will Not Bolster Growth, Economists Say"
By BINYAMIN APPELBAUMMAY 12, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/business/trump-tax-plan-economy.html
". . . a range of economists, both conservative and liberal, are highly skeptical that a tax cut is the cure for what ails the economy. They say Mr. Trump has little opportunity to increase economic growth in the next few years because the economy is already growing about as fast as it can. The government’s focus, they say, should be on raising the economy’s speed limit, for example, by encouraging investments that increase productivity.
Indeed, by some estimates, Mr. Trump’s plan could reduce economic growth — although such estimates necessarily involve a large dollop of guesswork because the administration has provided few details."
"Republicans pitch broad tax cuts. Is that what economy needs?"
Many economists say tax changes can give a short-term boost, or sometimes longer-run gains. But the growth goals behind a new House plan run up against tricky math of rising national debt.
"November 2, 2017 Washington and Boston—In laying down a sweeping tax reform Thursday, House Republicans have put all their trust into a central tenet of conservative thought: Tax cuts will spur growth.
By itself, it may not be that controversial an idea. But for the current US economy, it’s also not the obvious need.
In fact, a big challenge for the GOP is to show that its specific mix of tax cuts will provide enough short-term oomph to America’s economic engine now that it will have enough momentum to counter some of the long-term drag from more federal debt."
More.
"A question of timing
Why now? One big reason is political. Republicans have long wanted to try for a tax overhaul, and now control both the White House and Congress. But the math of passing a partisan bill is, well, taxing. Republicans are aiming to pass a parallel bill in the Senate with only a two-seat majority. Sen. Susan Collins (R) of Maine has already said she’s worried about a bill that adds to deficits.
The more substantive rationale is economic. The tax plan comes as annual GDP growth hasn’t clocked in above 3 percent (about its annual longer-run average) since 2005. The aspiration for stronger growth was a central theme of Donald Trump’s winning presidential campaign.
Yet the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has official forecasts of future growth of 2 percent a year. The reasons reflect the two main drivers of growth – the size of the labor force and its productivity. Better policies including on taxes might incentivize more people to work and more businesses to make productivity-enhancing investments."
