The New York Times:
The Republican tax proposals were bad from the get-go. But they have become steadily worse as they have been turned into bills, which seem so cartoonishly evil they could have been dreamed up by Mr. Burns from “The Simpsons.”
Consider the latest changes to the Senate tax-cut bill being championed by the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and his merry band. It lavishes generous permanent tax breaks on corporations, while modest tax cuts for the middle class would vanish into thin air after 2025. Millionaires would enjoy average tax cuts of $5,580 in 2027, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, at which point families earning less than $75,000 a year would pay more taxes.
Let that sink in. This tax bill would take money from working families and give it to the world’s wealthiest people. [snip]
And if that weren’t bad enough, this bill, along with a similar measure that the House passed on Thursday with lightning speed, would, because of a 2010 budget law, trigger automatic cuts to Medicare and other important programs that low-income and middle-class Americans depend on. All told, the bills would add more than a trillion dollars to the federal debt for future generations to pay off. (our emphasis)The Los Angeles Times on Senate Republicans using their wealthcare bill to sabotage health care for low- and- middle income Americans:
The "repeal and replace" effort died in the Senate this year, leaving Republicans to look for ways to inflict death on Obamacare by 1,000 cuts and executive orders. The idea of killing the individual mandate through the tax-cut bill has been floating around Washington for several weeks, gaining a key advocate Monday when Trump threw his support behind it on Twitter. (Where else?) He urged lawmakers to kill the mandate and use the money for more tax cuts — specifically, to reduce the individual income tax rate on top earners from 39.6% to 35%, "w/all the rest going to middle income cuts." Not that there would be anything left; judging by CBO estimates, the windfall for the highest-income taxpayers would eat up all the savings. And under this plan, like the last one, that windfall would come at the expense of lower-income Americans and their healthcare. (our emphasis)Paul Krugman on the windfall for the "idle rich:"
Looking at the reactions to Republican tax plans, I found myself remembering what people used to say about former Senator Phil Gramm, whose presidential ambitions never went anywhere but who did help cause the 2008 financial crisis: “Even his friends don’t like him.”
So it is with G.O.P. tax “reform,” especially the Senate version, which would raise taxes on most individuals, especially in the middle and working classes, and add around 13 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured, all to pay for big cuts in corporate taxes. The general public strongly disapproves — by a 2-1 majority, according to Quinnipiac, although the majority would be even bigger if people really understood what’s going on. But surely at least C.E.O.s like the plan, right?
Actually, not so much. A few days ago Gary Cohn, Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser, met with a group of top executives. They were asked to raise their hands if lower taxes would lead them to raise capital expenditures; only a handful did. “Why aren’t the other hands up?” asked Cohn, plaintively.
The answer is that C.E.O.s, living in the real world of business, not the imaginary world of right-wing ideologues, know that tax rates aren’t that important a factor in investment decisions. So they realize that even a huge tax cut wouldn’t lead to much more spending.
And with that realization, the rationale for this tax plan, such as it is, falls apart, leaving nothing but a scheme to make the rich — especially those who rake in investment income rather than working for a living — richer at everyone else’s expense. (our emphasis)The Kansas City Star, which has observed at close range the impact of trickle- down tax cuts on the economy of Kansas:
Republicans were in quite a festive, pre-holiday party mood on the House floor Thursday, jubilant at passing a Kansas-style tax cut that would primarily benefit the wealthy.
As we keep pointing out, the House bill, like its evil twin in our own backyard, would chop the income tax rate for top earners, and slash the top rate for “pass-through” income earned by them, too.
Newsflash from the Heartland: This won’t end well, GOP.If only the victims were limited to the Republican Party.
