Tag: GOP tax cuts for the rich

House Tax Bill: 5 key ways the newly passed plan would affect your money

The following article by James Dennin was posted on the mic.com website November 16, 2017:

The House of Representatives passed its version of a tax overhaul on Thursday by a 227-205 vote. The passage represents a major hurdle cleared for the GOP, but it’s still not clear whether the bill can survive a vote in the Senate — expected soon, following approval by the Senate Finance Committee Thursday night — and become law.

The bill, rolled out two weeks ago, has been criticized for purporting to help average Americans, while eliminating many middle-class benefits. Indeed, the biggest beneficiaries of reform seem instead to be corporations, said Jacob Leibenluft, a senior adviser for the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Continue reading “House Tax Bill: 5 key ways the newly passed plan would affect your money”

The Tax Bill Will be an Albatross for House Republicans

The following article by Ryan Collins was posted on the Center for American Progress website November 15, 2017:

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) shakes hands with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), on January 3, 2017, on Capitol Hill. Credit: AP/Jose Luis Magana

Republicans have convinced themselves that they must pass a tax plan to maintain their political majority in Congress. As Heritage Foundation fellow and Trump administration tax policy advisor Stephen Moore said, “The Republicans are finally figuring out if they don’t pass this, the political consequences are going to be catastrophic.”  Republican members of Congress, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have echoed similar statements. The truth is that passing a tax plan this bad—which now includes repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate—could be even worse for congressional Republicans’ political prospects.

Make no mistake, voting for this bill is likely to end a lot of political careers: Every single Republican member of the House will own this vote. The political ads against these members practically write themselves.

The robust string of Democratic victories in Virginia and New Jersey signal that the electorate has soured on both President Donald Trump and a congressional agenda that seeks to strip them of health care and raise their taxes, all while giving massive tax giveaways to millionaires, billionaires, and large corporations. Continue reading “The Tax Bill Will be an Albatross for House Republicans”

Senate tax bill would cut taxes of wealthy and increase taxes on families earning less than $75,000 by 2027

The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Washington Post website November 16, 2017:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said Nov. 14 that he was “optimistic” about adding the individual mandate repeal to the tax bill. (The Washington Post)

The tax bill Senate Republicans are championing would give large tax cuts to millionaires while raising taxes on American families earning $10,000 to $75,000 over the next decade, according to a report released Thursday by the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’s official nonpartisan analysts.

President Trump and Republican lawmakers have been heralding their bill as a win for hard-working Americans, but the JCT report casts doubt on that claim. Tax increases for households earning $10,000 to $30,000 would start in 2021 and grow sharply from there. By 2027, most Americans earning $75,000 a year or less would be forced to pay more in taxes, while people earning more than $100,000 a year would continue to get substantial tax cuts. Continue reading “Senate tax bill would cut taxes of wealthy and increase taxes on families earning less than $75,000 by 2027”

The Congressional GOP Tax Plan: A Bad Deal for the American People

The following is from an email from the Center for American Progress received November 16, 2017:

The Capitol is seen at dawn on October 30, 2017, in Washington. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

The Congressional Republican tax plan is not a good deal for middle-class and working Americans. It fails to cover the full cost of the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, adding to the deficit and putting middle-class priorities such as Medicare, Medicaid, education, and infrastructure at risk. Many states would see tens of thousands of families with tax increases, while nearly three-quarters of U.S. states would see hundreds of thousands—and in a few cases well more than 1 million—families with tax increases under the plan. Here’s what you need to know: Continue reading “The Congressional GOP Tax Plan: A Bad Deal for the American People”

Former Pentagon chiefs to Congress: If you’re serious about defense, don’t pass current GOP tax bill

The following article by Ed O’Keefe and Karoun Demirjian was posted on the Washington Post website November 15, 2017:

Former defense secretary Leon E. Panetta speaks during a discussion on countering violent extremism on Oct. 23 in Washington. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Three former secretaries of defense are warning lawmakers not to enact proposed Republican tax restructuring plans, arguing they will jeopardize future military spending.

Former defense secretaries Leon E. Panetta, Chuck Hagel and Ash Carter told senior congressional leaders in a letter Wednesday that because the tax plan is expected to increase the debt, passing it will probably mean future cuts to Pentagon budgets “for training, maintenance, force structure, flight missions, procurement and other key programs.”

“The result is the growing danger of a ‘hollowed out’ military force that lacks the ability to sustain the intensive deployment requirements of our global defense mission,” the secretaries wrote. They cited two recent accidents involving U.S. Navy destroyers that led to the deaths of 17 sailors as evidence that cuts in military spending can lead to a “lack of adequate training.” Continue reading “Former Pentagon chiefs to Congress: If you’re serious about defense, don’t pass current GOP tax bill”

Repealing the Estate Tax Would Plunge Charitable Giving

The following article by Katherine Gallagher Robbins, Rachel West and Melissa Boteach was posted on the Center for American Progress website November 15, 2017:

Then-President-elect Donald Trump is seen with his children during an election night rally, November 9, 2016. Credit: AP/Mary Altaffar

House Republicans’ latest tax plan proposes reducing the number of estates that would pay the estate tax over the next six years and eliminating the tax entirely by 2024, giving away billions of dollars to the children of millionaires and billionaires—including President Donald Trump’s own children. President Trump has specifically highlighted the estate tax as a giveaway to the rich, reportedly saying, “The deal is so bad for rich people, I had to throw in the estate tax just to give them something.”

While President Trump’s claim that the tax plan is bad for rich people is utterly false—his tax plan is decidedly good for the wealthiest Americans—it is true that repealing the estate tax exclusively benefits them. What’s more, this handout to the ultrawealthy would not only increase inequality, it would also undermine America’s charities and faith organizations. New analysis by the Center for American Progress estimates that eliminating the estate tax would reduce the amount people give to charity in their wills by $7.8 billion in 2024. Continue reading “Repealing the Estate Tax Would Plunge Charitable Giving”

Letter: GOP tax plan isn’t good for everyone

The new tax rates proposed by the Republican House will increase what a typical Eden Prairie homeowner pays in income taxes. Rep. Erik Paulsen is pitching this deficit-busting plan by saying it’s good for everyone. It’s not.

Fortunately, it’s not too hard to check the facts. The median household income for Eden Prairie is $97,600. The median Eden Prairie home value is $303,000. The typical property tax for this home value is about $4,000.

If one assumes a 240,000 at 4 percent interest for 30 years, the interest for one year is $9,500. Continue reading “Letter: GOP tax plan isn’t good for everyone”

Republican tax bill could slash $25 billion from Medicare, CBO say

The following article by Emily C. Singer was posted on the mic.com website November 14, 2017:

Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The House of Representatives’ proposed tax reform bill could have some major unintended consequences, including huge cuts to Medicare — the government-run health care program for seniors.

According to a new report out Tuesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Republican-backed legislation would trigger an automatic $136 billion reduction in federal spending — better known as sequestration — in the current fiscal year.

The CBO said $25 billion of those cuts would come from Medicare, the popular social insurance program that provides health care to seniors age 65 and up. Continue reading “Republican tax bill could slash $25 billion from Medicare, CBO say”

Not in a Million Years: The House’s Proposed Windfall for Donors

The following article by Galen Hendricks and Sam Berger was posted on the Center for American Progress website November 13, 2017:

The Capitol is seen at dawn on October 30, 2017, in Washington. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

Congressional proponents of the House Republicans’ tax plan, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, claim that it will benefit the middle class. But in reality, it is a huge giveaway to the donor class—including a handful of top donors who have bankrolled the campaigns of Republican leaders in Congress. In fact, just the bill’s estate tax cuts alone would allow the families of 11 prominent donors, listed below, to pocket up to $67.5 billion. The typical U.S. family couldn’t earn that much in a million years.

That’s not a figure of speech: The typical American family would have to work for 1,144,020 years to make the same amount of money as congressional majority leaders want to give away to the heirs of just these 11 wealthy individuals who helped them get elected. Continue reading “Not in a Million Years: The House’s Proposed Windfall for Donors”

More than 400 millionaires tell Congress: Don’t cut our taxes

The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Washington Post website November 12, 2017:

The Trump administration says its tax plan is intended to help ordinary Americans, but some key Republican figures have acknowledged that big business and political donors stand to benefit. (Taylor Turner/The Washington Post)

More than 400 American millionaires and billionaires are sending a letter to Congress this week urging Republican lawmakers not to cut their taxes.

The wealthy Americans — including doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and chief executives — say the GOP is making a mistake by reducing taxes on the richest families at a time when the nation’s debt is high and inequality is back at the worst level since the 1920s. Continue reading “More than 400 millionaires tell Congress: Don’t cut our taxes”