Sen. Marco Rubio when he was a presidential candidate. Credit: Jacquelyn Martin/AP
Democrats frequently claim Republicans’ corporate tax cuts enriched big businesses while doing little for workers, but now that line of criticism is coming from a prominent Republican: Sen. Marco Rubio.
The following article by Dan Desai Martin was posted on the ShareBlue.com website April 17, 2018:
A new Gallup poll shows the Republican tax bill scam is wildly unpopular.
Credit: Evan Vucci, AP
The tax scam championed by Republicans is doing exactly what critics warned: showering the wealthy with deficit-financed tax breaks, while leaving workers and the American middle class behind. The latest Gallup poll confirms, once again, a majority of Americans disapprove of the GOP tax bill.
It makes sense that Americans continue to hold a negative view of the bill. For one, the overwhelming majority of the benefits are going to the already wealthy. In 2018, the richest 1 percent will see a tax break of more than $50,000, or almost $1,000 per week. The poorest 20 percent will see a mere $60 spread out over the course of the entire year, slightly more than $1 per week. Continue reading “Americans to Republicans: Your tax bill scam is terrible”
The following article by Joe Conason was posted on the National Memo website April 13, 2018:
Donald Trump meets with Speaker Paul Ryan on Capitol Hill. Credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
For Republicans, disaster seems to dominate every news cycle: Paul Ryan, the House Speaker and one of his party’s most prolific fundraisers, announces that he will not run for reelection (and the leading would-be GOP nominee in his district is an actual Nazi). Ryan’s retirement is only the latest of at least 40 Republican members who are doing likewise. Nonpartisan analysts continue to increase the odds in blue turnovers in usually safe red districts. The historically unpopular president has instigated a trade war that is alienating his own rural base.
And the tax cut that was expected to serve as the centerpiece of the Republican midterm campaign? A new poll from Democracy Corps and the American Federation of Teachers shows that in House battleground districts, relatively few people believe the benefits were distributed fairly or that the tax cut benefits them and their families — indeed, the more they learn, the more voters are motivated to vote for Democrats. Continue reading “Poll: Distrust Over Trump And Tax Cuts Driving Democratic Midterm Wave”
The following article by Jeff Stein was posted on the Washington Post website April 9, 2018:
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) returns to his office. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post)
America’s deficit is rising sharply and will surpass $1 trillion per year by 2020, a gap that has grown since Congress cut taxes and increased spending, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday.
The following article by Naomi Jagoda and Niv Elis was posted on the Hill website March 30, 2018:
Credit: Alex Edelman/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
More than three months after the passage of the GOP’s tax-cut law, new surveys suggest that many people don’t think they are getting bigger paychecks, which could cut into support for Republicans in this fall’s midterm elections.
A CNBC poll this week stated that just 32 percent of working adults reported having more take-home pay due to the new law, a problem for Republicans hoping to run on the measure and the health of the economy in November.
The GOP has made the tax-cut law the centerpiece of its campaign message, arguing that Republican control of Congress and the White House led to legislation that is putting more money in people’s pockets and stimulating an economy with low unemployment. Continue reading “GOP tax message hits a snag”
The following article by Alexandra Thornton was posted on the Center for American Progress website March 1, 2018:
Credit: Getty Images
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was introduced on November 2, 2017, rushed through Congress on a partisan basis, and signed by President Donald Trump just seven weeks later. No hearings were held on the actual bill and experts who could have helped ensure that provisions were properly drafted had barely any opportunity to digest legislative language or analysis from the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, much less to provide comments. Additionally, Democratic legislators were not permitted in the drafting room. The result is a bill riddled with drafting errors, special tax breaks that were not vetted, and new loopholes.1 While some are mere glitches, others appear to be purposeful giveaways that will create complexity and confusion for taxpayers and will have a significant impact on federal revenues.2
Most tax policy experts understand tax reform to involve making the tax system fairer, as well as simpler and more efficient where possible.3 This is achieved in part by eliminating special interest tax breaks and loopholes that allow savvy taxpayers to legally escape tax.4 This approach contributed to the success of the Tax Reform Act of 1986.5 While it will take time before the full ramifications of the TCJA are fully revealed, it is clear at this point that the effort did not result in true tax reform. Rather, while some special interest tax breaks and tax loopholes were eliminated or reduced, a host of others were left in place. And new breaks and loopholes were added that individuals and businesses, with the help of their sophisticated tax advisers, can use to avoid paying taxes in the years ahead.6 This issue brief provides a sample of the many special tax breaks that remain or were added to the tax code, along with some new loopholes that have been identified in the two short months since the bill was passed. Continue reading “Broken Promises: More Special Interest Breaks and Loopholes Under the New Tax Law”
The following article by Matt Phillips was posted on the New York Ties website February 26, 2018:
President Trump promised that his tax cut would encourage companies to invest in factories, workers and wages, setting off a spending spree that would reinvigorate the American economy. Companies have announced plans for some of those investments. But so far, companies are using much of the money for something with a more narrow benefit: buying their own shares. Those so-called buybacks are good for shareholders, including the senior executives who tend to be big owners of their companies’ stock. A company purchasing its own shares is a time-tested way to bolster its stock price. But the purchases can come at the expense of investments in things like hiring, research and development and building new plants — the sort of investments that directly help the overall economy. The buybacks are also most likely to worsen economic inequality because the benefits of stocks purchases flow disproportionately to the richest Americans. The tax overhaul is the cornerstone of Mr. Trump’s economic plan. It has been a big win for companies, offering lower corporate rates and a permanent break on overseas profits. Warren E. Buffett said in his annual letter to investors on Saturday that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, enjoyed a $29 billion gain thanks to the new tax law. Continue reading the main story RELATED COVERAGE Opinion Editorial Well-Heeled Investors Reap the Republican Tax Cut Bonanza FEB. 25, 2018 Apple, Capitalizing on New Tax Law, Plans to Bring Billions in Cash Back to U.S. JAN. 17, 2018 Bonuses Aside, Tax Law’s Trickle-Down Impact Not Yet Clear JAN. 22, 2018 Tax Overhaul Gains Public Support, Buoying Republicans Feb. 19, 2018
President Trump promised that his tax cut would encourage companies to invest in factories, workers and wages, setting off a spending spree that would reinvigorate the American economy.
Companies have announced plans for some of those investments. But so far, companies are using much of the money for something with a more narrow benefit: buying their own shares.
Those so-called buybacks are good for shareholders, including the senior executives who tend to be big owners of their companies’ stock. A company purchasing its own shares is a time-tested way to bolster its stock price.
But the purchases can come at the expense of investments in things like hiring, research and development and building new plants — the sort of investments that directly help the overall economy. The buybacks are also most likely to worsen economic inequality because the benefits of stocks purchases flow disproportionately to the richest Americans.
The tax overhaul is the cornerstone of Mr. Trump’s economic plan. It has been a big win for companies, offering lower corporate rates and a permanent break on overseas profits. Warren E. Buffett said in his annual letter to investors on Saturday that his company, Berkshire Hathaway, enjoyed a $29 billion gain thanks to the new tax law.
What companies do with the trillions of dollars they’re bringing back to the United States, and the money they will save each year on their tax bills, will in large part determine whether the plan is a success or a failure.
As the tax cuts kick in, companies have laid out a variety of uses for the money. Some are paying out one-time bonuses to employees. Others are raising salaries. Others plan to open new factories.
In the fourth quarter, American companies’ investments in things like factories and business equipment grew by 6.8 percent. That was the fastest growth rate since 2014, but far from the giant surge in capital spending that was promised ahead of the tax overhaul.
But the buying back of shares is also at record levels.
Almost 100 American corporations have trumpeted such plans in the past month. American companies have announced more than $178 billion in planned buybacks — the largest amount unveiled in a single quarter, according to Birinyi Associates, a market research firm.
Such purchases reduce a company’s total number of outstanding shares, giving each remaining share a slightly bigger piece of the profit pie.
Cisco said this month that in response to the tax package, it would bring back to the United States $67 billion of overseas cash, using $25 billionto finance additional share repurchases. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, authorized up to $8.6 billion in stock purchases. PepsiCo announced a fresh $15 billion in planned buybacks. Chip gear maker Applied Materials disclosed plans for a $6 billion program to buy shares. Late last month, home improvement retailer Lowe’s unveiled plans for $5 billion in purchases.
On Monday, Mr. Buffett said on CNBC that Berkshire might be open to buy some of its shares. The remarks helped send Berkshire’s stock — and the broader market — higher.
More buybacks are almost certainly on the way. UBS analysts covering Apple said the iPhone maker might authorize another $30 billion in share purchases when it reports its next quarterly earnings in April. That would be on top of the $30 billion it already spends each year to buy back its shares.
“I’m expecting buybacks to get to a record for 2018,” said Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst with S.&P. Dow Jones Indices. “And if I’m disappointed, there’s a lot of people with me.”
The flurry of planned buybacks has been good for the stock market. Early this month, stocks were down more than 10 percent from their January peak. The prospect of companies flooding markets with “buy” orders helped the market recoup some of its losses.
The broader impact on the economy is less clear. Economists believe a rising stock market benefits the economy, helping support consumer and business confidence. But the vast majority of the billions of dollars in planned share purchases will benefit the richest 10 percent of American households, who own 84 percent of all stocks. The top 1 percent of households own about 40 percent of all stocks.
Ultimately, the effect of the rising stock market depends on how those wealthy investors use their windfall. It helps the economy more, for example, if they put the money toward productive new companies than if they invest in government bonds.
The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website February 16, 2018:
White House officials are claiming big budget savings for a plan that sends the deficit soaring. How does that add up? It doesn’t. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)
“The budget represents $3 trillion in savings over the course of the 10 years. It’s the second-largest proposed reduction in spending ever, second only to last year’s budget.” — White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, briefing reporters on the 2019 budget, Feb. 12, 2018
“I know the president certainly would like to reduce the deficit and it’s one of the reasons that his budget — this budget reduced the deficit by $3 trillion, which was one of the largest in history.” — White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in an interview on CNN, Feb. 13
The following article by Naomi Jagoda was posted on the Hill website February 11, 2018:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), left, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Taxpayers are starting to see bigger paychecks as a result of the new tax law, which Republicans hope will pay off for them in the midterm elections.
Democrats warn that Republicans may be overpromising, and have expressed concerns that a number of taxpayers expecting refunds may instead end up owing the IRS money next year.
The growing paychecks reflect the new withholding guidance issued by the IRS last month following enactment of the tax law. The guidance adjusts the amounts that companies take from their employees’ paychecks for federal taxes. Continue reading “GOP praises, Dems question tax-cut boost in paychecks”
The following article was posted on the Creators website February 8, 2018:
Credit: mconners via morguefile.com
Would someone kindly replace Nancy Pelosi as a spokesperson for Democrats? The House minority leader’s riff on the tax bill as “crumbs” for average Americans bombed on two fronts. One was her snide and preachy tone. The other was linking “crumbs” to $1,000-or-better bonuses that a few companies said they will distribute out of their tax savings.
