Tag: GOP tax cuts for the rich

11 Ways the Wealthy and Corporations Will Game the New Tax Law

The following article by Alexandra Thornton was posted on the Center for American Progress website July 25, 2018:

Introduction and summary

At the end of 2017, congressional Republicans drafted a new tax bill and rushed it to President Donald Trump for signature in just seven weeks. No congressional Democrats were permitted in the drafting sessions, and no hearings were held after the draft legislation was released.1 As a result, no other members of Congress and no members of the public whom the bill’s sweeping provisions would affect had adequate opportunity to review the proposed changes and identify potential problems—much less offer suggestions for how to improve the bill. To the surprise of no one in Washington, the final law that emerged from this secret and partisan process overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy and large corporations. The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) and the Tax Policy Center—both nonpartisan organizations—have confirmed this fact.2

Provisions of the new tax law, informally known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), that directly benefit the wealthy and corporations include: lowering the top individual income tax rate to 37 percent; weakening the individual alternative minimum tax, which originally was designed to ensure that the wealthy pay a minimum amount of tax; gutting the estate tax; allowing a giveaway to wealthy pass-through business owners; and slashing the statutory corporate tax rate.

View the complete article here.

 

Republicans Go For Broke on Tax Cut Message With 2.0 Effort

The following article by Lindsey McPherson was posted n the Roll Call website July 24, 2018:

Making individual tax cuts permanent is centerpiece of developing 3-bill package

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, briefed House Republicans Tuesday on his panel’s developing “Tax Reform 2.0” plan. Credit: Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call fie photo

House Republicans have made clear that the tax overhaul bill their party passed last year is their primary selling point to voters on why they should keep them in the majority come November.

Now they’re doubling down on the tax cut message as they prepare a three-bill package they’re calling “Tax Reform 2.0.”

The Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday released a two-page outline of the 2.0 plan, which they plan to introduce as legislation after the House returns from its late summer recess in September. The goal is for floor votes on the three bills this fall before the House adjourns again for the midterm elections.

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GOP lied about their tax scam, and now American wages are falling

The following article by Dan Desai Martin was posted on the ShareBlue.com website July 23, 2018:

Trump and his GOP promised their tax scam would help middle-class workers, but wages are actually down and the only ones benefitting are the ultra-rich.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP Photos

Republicans sold their tax scam as a way to help the middle class, but seven months after Trump signed the bill into law, Americans have seen months of declining wages. In reality, the tax scam is a $2 trillion, deficit-financed boondoggle to benefit wealthy Wall Street corporations while workers languish.

Trump vowed the tax scam would be “rocket fuel” for the economy. Congressional Republicans made over-the-top promises about higher wages and a booming economy.

But that hasn’t happened. The tax scam has not led to higher wages. Instead, as finance expert Noah Smith explains in Bloomberg, “Real average hourly compensation actually fell in the first quarter” after the tax scam was passed.

View the complete article here.

Meet the Republicans who want ‘Tax Reform 2.0’ as Russia controversy rages on

The following article by Tana Ganeva was posted on the RawStory.com website July 17, 2018:

President Trump and Russia’s President Putin shake hands in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018. Credit: Kevin Lamarque, Reuters

On Tuesday, as the controversy continued to rage over President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, some Republicans are going back to business as usual: pushing forth tax reforms most likely to benefit corporate interests and the wealthy.

According to the White House pool report, President Trump is slated to meet with Republican members of Congress today to discuss “tax reform 2.0.”

The President plans to meet with the following congresspeople, many of whom, like Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), have previously issued soft critiques of the President on issues like trade policy but nevertheless signal their support for most of Donald Trump’s agenda:

Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX)
Rep. Mike Bishop (R-MI)
Rep. Diane Black (R-TN)
Rep. George Holding (R-NC)
Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH)
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL)
Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN)

View the complete article on the RawStory.com website here.

Workers’ wages fall after passage of GOP tax cuts

The following article by Ryan Koronowski was posted on the ThinkProgress website June 13, 2018:

Credit: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, AFP, Getty Images

The federal government just admitted that workers are earning lower wages since the passage of the GOP tax cuts.

When President Donald Trump was pushing Congress to pass his tax plan last year, which focused on lowering corporate rates and the income taxes of high earners, he pulled out a handy statistic: according to the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, the average family would make $4,000 more under the new plan. Continue reading “Workers’ wages fall after passage of GOP tax cuts”

Investment Boom From Trump’s Tax Cut Has Yet to Appear Image

The following article by Matt Phillips and Jim Tankersley was posted on the New York Times website April 30, 2018:

President Trump’s tax cuts have not yet translated into expanded investment by companies like Caterpillar, which provided a front-end loader for Made in America Day last year. Credit: Tom Brenner/The New York Times

After years of costly layoffs and plant closings, things are looking up for the heavy-machinery giant Caterpillar, which forecasts solid global sales growth and increased demand this year. Yet despite the corporate investment incentives at the center of President Trump’s tax overhaul, the company’s executives have no plans to supercharge investment or expansion.

Caterpillar’s plans for new investment remain low by historical standards. Instead, the company has started using cash to repurchase its own stock as a way to return cash to shareholders, something it hadn’t done since 2015. Continue reading “Investment Boom From Trump’s Tax Cut Has Yet to Appear Image”

The Tax Cut Effect

The following article by Andrew Soergel was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website March 30, 2018:

The benefits of the nation’s new tax code haven’t cropped up in much economic data so far this year.

GOP LAWMAKERS BROUGHT in 2018 with a $1.5 trillion tax overhaul that upended the burdens individuals and corporations owe to the Internal Revenue Service each year.

The legislation heaped new debt onto a country already saddled with more than $20 trillion in outstanding obligations. But the overhaul was touted as an economic growth engine likely to drive investment and wage growth in America, eventually allowing the cuts to pay for themselves by virtue of a stronger economy. Continue reading “The Tax Cut Effect”

5 Ways the Trump Budget Undermines Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Efforts

The following article by Chelsea Parsons and Scott Sargrad was posted on the Center for American Progress website February 16, 2018:

Thousands gathered for an evening vigil at Pine Trails Park in Parkland, FL, to remember those killed and injured in the February 15, 2018 shooting, in Parkland, FL. Credit: Getty/Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles

In his address to the nation the day after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 students and teachers and injured another 14, President Donald Trump vowed to take action, stating that he would soon hold meetings with governors and attorneys general in which “making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority.” He continued, “It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference. We must actually make that difference.” However, the president’s actions have already spoken louder than these hollow words. Just two days before the shooting, his administration released its fiscal year 2019 budget, which proposed cutting funding to crucial programs that help prevent gun violence and ensure school safety.

Below are five ways that the Trump budget undermines efforts to reduce gun violence and keep our nation’s students safe. Continue reading “5 Ways the Trump Budget Undermines Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Efforts”

Fact Sheets: President Trump’s FY 2019 Budget Harms Nearly Every Community Across the Country

The following article by Eliza Schultz, Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Rejane Frederick, Silva Mathema, Connor Maxwell, Heidi Schultheis, Anusha Ravi, Leila Schochet, Leonard Scott IV and Shabab Ahmed Mirza was posted on the Center for American Progress website February 16, 2018:

Copies of President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget sit on a table at the House Budget Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, February 12, 2018. Credit: Getty/AFP/Saul Loeb

Immediately after President Donald Trump signed into law a tax overhaul that jacks up the deficit by $1.5 trillion—and unabashedly funnels enormous tax cuts to the nation’s millionaires, billionaires, and corporations—he and his colleagues in Congress made clear how they planned to pay for it: by slashing the very programs that help everyday people make ends meet. In February, President Trump released a budget that doubles down on his Robin Hood in reverse vision for the country. His proposals are draconian—seeking to dismantle the nation’s health care system; dramatically curtailing access to affordable housing and nutrition; and even threatening programs that Trump pledged not to touch, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Continue reading “Fact Sheets: President Trump’s FY 2019 Budget Harms Nearly Every Community Across the Country”

President’s Budget Targets Medicare, Medicaid and Food Stamps

The following article by Dena Bunis was posted on the AARP website February 13, 2018:

Spending proposal slashes many health and safety net programs

Credit: Gregory Reid, Gallery Stock

President Trump unveiled his federal budget proposal Monday, which takes aim at many of the health and safety net programs that older Americans rely on. The plan sharply reduces funding for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance and food stamps.

Rarely do most of the elements of a president’s budget become law, as Congress would have to enact them. Historically that almost never happens. Continue reading “President’s Budget Targets Medicare, Medicaid and Food Stamps”