Tag: GOP tax scam

GOP tax plan doubles down on policies that are crushing the middle class

The following article by Steven Pressman, Professor of Economics at Colorado State University, was posted on the Conversation website December 20, 2017:


GOP tax plan doubles down on policies that are crushing the middle class
December 20, 2017 6.26am EST
A big part of that check is being drawn from middle-class accounts. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The U.S. middle class has always had a special mystique.

It is the heart of the American dream. A decent income and home, doing better than one’s parents, and retiring in comfort are all hallmarks of a middle-class lifestyle.

Contrary to what some may think, however, the U.S. has not always had a large middle class. Only after World War II was being middle class the national norm. Then, starting in the 1980s, it began to decline.

President Donald Trump has portrayed the tax plan Congress is wrapping up as a boon for the middle class. The sad reality, however, is that it is more likely to be its final death knell. Continue reading “GOP tax plan doubles down on policies that are crushing the middle class”

How Republicans Rallied Together to Deliver a Tax Plan

The following article by Jim Tankersley and Alan Rappeport was posted on the New York Times website December 19, 2017:

Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, and other Senate Republicans after passage of the tax plan on Capitol Hill early Wednesday.CreditTom Brenner/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The sting of failure on health care still lingered in the Senate on Aug. 3, when Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, summoned the Republican members of the Budget Committee to his office. We need to pass a tax bill this fall, Mr. McConnell told his colleagues, and we need a budget that allows us to do that.

There was no dissent. Continue reading “How Republicans Rallied Together to Deliver a Tax Plan”

‘How the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts,’ Democrat’s Xmas story warms few hearts on House floor

The following article by Herman Wong was posted on the Washington Post website December 19, 2017:

In a speech on the House floor on Dec. 19, Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) invoked Dr. Seuss’s Grinch to criticize the GOP tax bill. (C-SPAN)

Democrats have assailed the Republican tax plan as a “scam” that represents “class warfare.” On Tuesday, one Democratic representative came up with a more lyrical attack against what will be the most significant overhaul of the tax codesince 1986.

On the House floor, Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.) shared a retelling of the classic Dr. Seuss Christmas tale, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” in which the Grinch is now Trump and the loot is middle-class tax cuts. The full video of Cicilline’s performance is embedded above. Continue reading “‘How the Grinch Stole Middle Class Tax Cuts,’ Democrat’s Xmas story warms few hearts on House floor”

The Republican tax bill was the easy part. The next debate could be much uglier.

The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Washington Post website December 19, 2017:

With the Republicans’ tax plan heading to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law, just who will be getting his promised “Christmas present” and who won’t? (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

The Republican overhaul of the tax code sets the stage for years of politically fraught debate over what the government should provide for its citizens and how much it should demand in taxes.

President Trump and Republicans in Congress are celebrating the $1.5 trillion legislation as a big tax cut for workers and businesses. And for the time being, it is that — 80 percent of the country will pay lower taxes next year. Continue reading “The Republican tax bill was the easy part. The next debate could be much uglier.”

With unpopular tax bill, experts say GOP has learned nothing from Obamacare missteps

The following article by Emily C. Singer was posted on the Mic website December 19, 2017:

Credit: www.speaker.gov/blog

It’s déjà vu all over again for Republicans, who, over the past weeks, have sought to convince themselves that the unpopular tax bill they’re set to pass won’t sink their electoral hopes in the 2018 midterm elections.

“No concerns whatsoever,” House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Monday when asked whether he was concerned that the tax plan, currently opposed by more than half of voters, could hurt the GOP next November. Continue reading “With unpopular tax bill, experts say GOP has learned nothing from Obamacare missteps”

GOP tax bill passes Senate as House prepares to send it to Trump

The following article by Jeff Stein and Damian Paletta was posted on the Washington Post website December 20, 2017:

Congressional Republicans on Dec. 20 passed a massive tax overhaul, sending the bill to President Trump for him to sign it into law. (Jenny Starrs, Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

Follow Wednesday’s updates here: GOP tax bill passes Congress

Republicans are on the verge of passing the most significant overhaul of the tax code since 1986, after the Senate passed the GOP plan early Wednesday morning and House leaders scheduled a vote to quickly send it to President Trump. Continue reading “GOP tax bill passes Senate as House prepares to send it to Trump”

Wells Fargo CEO reveals the scam at the heart of Republicans’ tax bill

The following article by Rebekah Entralgo was posted on the ThinkProgress website December 19, 2017:

Say it with me: trickle-down economics doesn’t work.

AP PHOTO/MATT ROURKE

The House of Representatives is set to vote on the final version of the GOP tax bill Tuesday, with the Senate to follow close behind. Most Republican members of Congress are heralding the plan’s giant, permanent tax cut for corporations as the reason behind their support. The GOP argues that when corporations get a tax cut, they put that money toward creating more jobs and raising wages. Continue reading “Wells Fargo CEO reveals the scam at the heart of Republicans’ tax bill”

The GOP Tax Bill Was Manifestly Corrupt Long Before the ‘Corker Kickback’

The following article by Eric Levitz was posted on the New York Magazine website December 18, 2017:

Fill the swamp. Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Earlier this month, Bob Corker believed that the Republican tax bill was unconscionably reckless. The Tennessee senator had spent a decade decrying the “rapidly growing national debt” as the “greatest threat to our nation” — and months vowing to vote against any tax-cut legislation that added “one penny” to that sum. So, when he learned that the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” would add over $1 trillion to the deficit, Corker decided to take a lonely stand against it.

Two weeks later, Republican leaders in the House and Senate unveiled their final, consensus tax-cut legislation. The bill was nearly identical to the one Corker had voted against, except that it added even more money to the deficit — and included a special tax break for real-estate investors that would increase Bob Corker’s personal income by up to $1.2 million a year. Continue reading “The GOP Tax Bill Was Manifestly Corrupt Long Before the ‘Corker Kickback’”

Protesters storm Congress to fight tax bill, as cameras point elsewhere

The following article by David Weigel was posted on the Washington Post website December 18, 2017:

Protesters gathered at the Russell Senate Building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 18 to protest the GOP tax bill, and several were arrested. (Twitter/Mariam Ehrari via Storyful)

The mission on Monday afternoon was the same as it had been since June: Show up in the halls of Congress, and get arrested. More than a hundred protesters crowded into the meeting and dining rooms of the Capitol Skyline Hotel to get trained before the final burst of civil disobedience against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They chanted “When we fight, we win,” but the meaning of “winning” was slightly tweaked.

“When we fight, we win; when we drag this out, we win,” said Paul Davis, the national advocacy coordinator at the left-leaning Housing Works. “They thought that they would pass this thing before Thanksgiving, and it’s halfway to Christmas!” Continue reading “Protesters storm Congress to fight tax bill, as cameras point elsewhere”

Why Corker flipped on the tax bill

The following article by Seung Min Kim was posted on the Politico website December 18, 2017:

Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-Tenn.) surprise decision to support the tax bill after railing for weeks that it would increase the federal deficit. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo

Days before his surprise announcement that he would support the GOP tax bill, Sen. Bob Corker had been summoning administration officials and economists to his office to see whether he could ultimately get on board with the plan.

One was Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former Congressional Budget Office director and adviser to GOP presidential campaigns who painstakingly went through varying analyses of the tax measure as Corker — accompanied by at least a half-dozen aides and stacks of spreadsheets — drilled him with questions. Continue reading “Why Corker flipped on the tax bill”