How the Trump Tax Cut Is Helping to Push the Federal Deficit to $1 Trillion

The following article by Jim Tankersley was posted on the New York Times website July 25, 2018:

The amount of corporate taxes collected by the federal government has plunged to historically low levels in the first six months of the year, pushing up the federal budget deficit much faster than economists had predicted.

The reason is President Trump’s tax cuts. The law introduced a standard corporate rate of 21 percent, down from a high of 35 percent, and allowed companies to immediately deduct many new investments. As companies operate with lower taxes and a greater ability to reduce what they owe, the federal government is receiving far less than it would have before the overhaul.

 

The Trump administration had said that the tax cuts would pay for themselves by generating increased revenue from faster economic growth, but the White House has acknowledged in recent weeks that the deficit is growing faster than it had expected. The Office of Management and Budget said this month that it had revised its forecasts from earlier this year to account for nearly $1 trillion of additional debt over the next decade — on average, almost $100 billion more a year in deficits.

View the complete post here.

CEOs Get Massive Payouts As Workers Shoulder Larger Share Of Federal Tax Burden

CEOs are some of the biggest winners from the Trump tax law, not workers. Corporations received massive new tax cuts, which CEOs have used to further enrich themselves. Meanwhile, workers’ wages have not increased and workers are having to  shoulder a rising share of the federal tax burden.

CEOs have used the Trump tax law to further enrich themselves with “eye-popping” payouts. Meanwhile, workers aren’t benefiting.

Politico: “‘Eye-popping’ payouts for CEOs follow Trump’s tax cuts”

Politico: “Some of the biggest winners from President Donald Trump’s new tax law are corporate executives who have reaped gains as their companies buy back a record amount of stock, a practice that rewards shareholders by boosting the value of existing shares.” Continue reading “CEOs Get Massive Payouts As Workers Shoulder Larger Share Of Federal Tax Burden”

Trump And Republicans Help CEOs & Leave Everyone Else Behind

The Trump and Republican economic agenda has increased the gap between CEOs and everyone else. CEO have benefitted with tens of billions of dollars, while workers’ wages have not increased. See for yourself:

CEOs of the U.S.’s biggest corporations took home $10 billion last year.

Axios: “The CEOs running S&P 500 companies cumulatively took home $10 billion in 2017, an amount that is 44% higher than what is usually reported, according to an Axios analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings.” Continue reading “Trump And Republicans Help CEOs & Leave Everyone Else Behind”

Trump, House GOP Talk More Tax Cuts

NOTE:  Rep. Erik Paulsen is a member of this committee. The tax cut bill last year that gave the majority of benefits to the top 1% of people and cut corporate taxes massively has done major damage to the national debt. Here’s an article detailing this from Forbes.

The following article by Fred Lucas was posted on the Daily Signal website July 17, 2018:

President Trump meets with members of Congress, including Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady of Texas, Credit: Newscom

Following up on the economic growth spurred by their first tax reform package, President Donald Trump and House Republicans want to see another round.

“We are going to start a meeting on tax reduction, and we are going to be putting in a bill,” Trump said Tuesday in the Cabinet Room of the White House, just before a meeting with House Republicans.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, talked about making the individual income tax cuts permanent.

View the complete article here.

Paychecks Lag as Profits Soar, and Prices Erode Wage Gains

The following article by Patricia Cohen was posted on the New York Times website July 13, 2018:

Job seekers at a career fair in Los Angeles on March 8. Employers complain of labor shortages, but many are reluctant to pay higher wages. Credit: Patrick T. Fallon, Bloomberg

Corporate profits have rarely swept up a bigger share of the nation’s wealth, and workers have rarely shared a smaller one.

The lopsided split is especially pronounced given how low the official unemployment rate has sunk. Throughout the recession and much of its aftermath, when many Americans were grateful to receive a paycheck instead of a pink slip, jobs and raises were in short supply. Now, complaints of labor shortages are as common as tweets. For the first time in a long while, workers have some leverage to push for more.

Yet many are far from making up all the lost ground. Hourly earnings have moved forward at a crawl, with higher prices giving workers less buying power than they had last summer. Last-minute scheduling, no-poachingand noncompete clauses, and the use of independent contractors are popular tactics that put workers at a disadvantage. Threats to move operations overseas, where labor is cheaper, continue to loom.

View the complete article on the New York Times website here.

‘Not what we expected’: Trump’s tax bill is losing popularity

The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Washington Post website June 29, 2018:

Pres. Trump in the White House Cabinet Room. Credit: Getty, Win McNamee

In a packed arena in Fargo, N.D., this week, President Trump’s most ardent supporters roared with approval when he talked about protecting the U.S. borders, beating the Democrats and “respect for our great, beautiful, wonderful American flag.” When Trump pivoted to the tax bill, his top legislative accomplishment, the crowd clapped — but without the fervor they had shown for many of his other applause lines.

Trump signed the tax cut legislation just before Christmas. Six months later, it is losing popularity. Continue reading “‘Not what we expected’: Trump’s tax bill is losing popularity”

Trump Tax Law Gives Big Banks Enormous Second-Quarter

America’s biggest banks reported earning enormous second-quarter profit margins, largely because of the Trump tax law. Meanwhile, workers’ wages have decreased.

Big banks are the biggest beneficiaries of  the Trump tax law.

  • Bank of America earned a second-quarter profit of $6.78 billion, a 33 percent jump from a year earlier.
  • JPMorgan Chase earned a second-quarter profit of $8.32 billion, an 18 percent jump from a year earlier.
  • Citigroup earned a second-quarter profit of $4.49 billion, a 16 percent jump from a year earlier.

Continue reading “Trump Tax Law Gives Big Banks Enormous Second-Quarter”

A Sweet New Century for America’s Most Privileged

The following article by Sam Pizzigati was posted on the Inequality.org website July 12, 2018:

America’s elected leaders haven’t ignored inequality since 2000. They’ve made it spectacularly worse.

Mitch McConnel, Paul Ryan, Donald Trump and Mike Pence celebrating GOP tax cut for the rich bill. Credit: Official White House Photo

The United States ended the 20th century on a roll — for the rich. Between 1973 and 2000, the nation’s most prosperous 1 percent tripled their incomes, after taking inflation into account.

The even more prosperous top tenth of that 1 percent did quite a bit better. Their incomes more than quintupledbetween 1973 and 2000, rising an amazing 414.6 percent.

And what about Americans of less exalted means, those stuck in the nation’s bottom 90 percent? Between 1973 and 2000, their incomes rose all of . . . 2.6 percent. Continue reading “A Sweet New Century for America’s Most Privileged”

Trade war could wipe out gains of GOP tax law, former top Trump economic adviser say

The following article by Jeff Stein was posted on the Washington Post website June 14, 2018:

“It may be revenue positive, it may be revenue negative,” former National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said of the tax reform law. (Washington Post Live)

An escalating trade war could wipe out the benefits of the Republican tax law passed last fall, President Trump’s former top economic adviser said Thursday.

Gary Cohn, who served as Trump’s director of the National Economic Council but left amid a rift over the president’s trade policies, said that retaliatory tariffs between countries could drive up inflation and prompt American consumers to take on more debt, possibly pushing the country into another economic downturn. Continue reading “Trade war could wipe out gains of GOP tax law, former top Trump economic adviser say”

Jelly Bellies and big spending: Inside the GOP struggle to sell voters on its tax law

The following article by Erica Werner was posted on the Washington Post website May 10, 2018:

House Speaker Ryan, right, listens to House Majority Leader McCarthy, left. Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Republican leaders and campaign officials are scrambling to do more to sell voters on their signature legislative achievement — a $1.5 trillion tax cut — amid poor polling numbers, rank-and-file members who lack a consistent message and a president who refuses to focus on the issue.

President Trump, when given the chance to tout his party’s tax law, has repeatedly gone off topic, including on Saturday when he traveled to Cleveland for a tax roundtable. While other speakers sang the law’s praises, Trump mixed in remarks on China, North Korea, Syria, immigration, the mayor of Oakland, Calif., Congress’s budget deal, his own poll numbers and the media’s coverage of his presidency. Continue reading “Jelly Bellies and big spending: Inside the GOP struggle to sell voters on its tax law”