Republicans tax plan is simply self-serving
Republicans are racing to push through a tax bill before Americans can digest it.
It is supposed to provide middle class relief. The centerpiece is a new, big standard deduction. But the problem is the bill both gives and takes away from middle and low-income Americans. It raises the lowest tax bracket by 2 percent, and the touted new standard deduction evaporates in five years. It will also raise taxes on families with children, about half of the middle class.
What is not in doubt is the rich getting a big win from this bill.
It puts an astounding $1.5 billion hole in our budget. One trillion dollars of the tax cut goes to corporations. Another $300,000 billion goes to the richest among us because the Estate tax is eliminated.
Trump himself benefits yugely from this bill.
The argument for rewarding corporations and the wealthy is the same as always — it will create jobs.
Nonsense.
Corporations will do what they want with this windfall. Usually, it goes into buying back their own stock, which raises the price, and the CEOs and stockholders benefit.
This “trickledown” idea has been tried before. Reagan was first. When it didn’t work, he just passed a huge deficit along. GHW Bush decided not to believe in trickledown, calling it voodoo economics. But GW Bush, bought into this idea, (and, like Trump, deregulation too) and the resulting greed brought us to 2009’s catastrophic crash. Do we want to go there again?
Corporate America is already awash in cash, and it has not stimulated growth for the middle class yet.
This is not tax reform. This is a gift to the people who donate to the Republican Party. A few crumbs were thrown to the middle class to make us think we have won.
Carolyn Medland
Alcona Twp.