(Large audible sigh) It’s not easy to know where to begin or how to talk about the GOP tax plan that will probably pass this week and go to the Trump desk for his scrawl. But I have to try.
The GOP tax reform law is a very huge con. Ah yes, according to the Orangeman, it will simplify filing our taxes (a postcard-size tax return!); it will reduce everyone’s taxes; and best of all, it will stimulate the economy. So let’s start there, with that list.
Simplification. No, it will not. In fact, it will probably make the tax code more complex than it is now. This is true sausage; every special interest group unleashed their lobbyist hordes on the Capitol, and so much was kept in and then added to. When I asked our tax accountant a few days ago what he thought, he simply rolled his eyes, curled up into a fetal position, and groaned.
Tax reduction. Well, as far as I can tell, it will reduce taxes for a lot of people, at least for a few years. Many of the deductions the Trumpkins (tip of the hat to Max Boot for the term) wanted to eliminate were kept in as a result of the previously mentioned hordes of lobbyists. While some deductions or exemptions are reduced or eliminated, higher limits on others will make up for those losses. The real winners are (spoiler alert) the very wealthy and the corporations. The real losers will probably be the rest of us, once the tax reducing parts of the bill expire in a few years. Note - the tax saving measures expire for everyone except the very wealthy and corporations; theirs go on forever.
Economic stimulation. I think these GOP creeps are stimulating themselves in the back room, because there is no evidence, none, nada, that tax cuts stimulate the economy. This “trickle down” BS has been tried and failed a number of times, most recently in the State of Kansas, where the result is economic shambles. The wealthy and corporations will have more money in their money bags, and they will keep it, or, in the case of corporations, use it to reward their investors with dividends, or buy back a lot of their stock. So if you have shares in big corporations, maybe you will benefit.
Bottom Line. The new GOP tax bill is a big solution to a non-existent problem. Yes, the tax code is big and complex and needs to be reformed; however, this doesn’t do that. This GOP tax bill has two purposes, and only two:
1. Demonstrate that the GOP can acomplish something Trump promised - anything!
2. Reward the big donors to the GOP with lower taxes = cash in pocket.
Oh wait, there is one other purpose - another nail in the coffin of the Affordable Care Act (you know, one of the things that black guy accomplished that the Trumpkins are systematically erasing). The GOP tax bill has a provision that eliminates the mandate to have health insurance (or pay a fine), that will result in millions fewer people (mostly the young and healthy) opting out of health insurance, which will make it more dificult for insurance companies to offer lower premiums, which will make it more difficult for people to afford health care, and etc.
But wait, there’s more. Oh right, the deficit. You see, the GOP couldn’t figure out how to make the tax bill pay for itself. Originally, they wanted to eliminate a lot of tax deductions - for people who need them most, like families, students, poor people; the usual suspects. But they couldn’t get enough votes from their own to pass the thing, so they had to buy off the holdouts with gratuitous keep-ins. As a result, this GOP tax bill will cost us, you and me and our kids and grandkids, over one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000) over the next decade. Ah, but worry not, tax payers, the Grand Old Party has an idea - reduce those damn entitlements! You know, social security, medicare and medicaid. Cut the funds from those and bingo, the trillion dollar deficit is gone. What great governing.
I will be chucking up my lunch when I see the yellow-coifed Orangeman scrawling a seismic line on the bill, surrounded by the grinning despicables of the GOP.
May they all rot in Hell!
—-
No comments:
Post a Comment