Tag: GOP wealthcare

GOP Tax Plan Would Hurt Homeowners Everywhere

The following article by Froma Harrop was posted on the Creators.com website November 23, 2017:

The story making the rounds is that the Republican tax plan targets homeowners only in expensive blue states — people who tend to vote for the other party. That’s only partly true. Homeowners everywhere would get hit. The reasons will follow.

As a whole, the “reforms” are an abomination. Through some tricks to hide its effects early on, the plan would move more of the nation’s tax burden down to the middle class and lower. Some 13 million could lose their health coverage.

Worst of all, the GOP tax plan would cost between $1.5 trillion and $2.2 trillion over 10 years. As a result, the national debt would explode to 123 percent (!!!) of the gross domestic product by 2037 — that is, unless Republicans were to raid Social Security and Medicare. Continue reading “GOP Tax Plan Would Hurt Homeowners Everywhere”

5 Reasons Communities of Faith Should Be Alarmed by the Tax Bill

The following article by LaShawn Warren was posted on the Center for American Progress website November 22, 2017:

The U.S. Capitol dome as the sun rises on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, at the foot of the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington. Credit: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

President Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), and many other GOP lawmakers have continually referenced faith and religion when referring to public policy. President Trump’s public remarks have increasing been laced with religious rhetoric—from invoking the Lord to support his declaration of opioid addiction as a national health emergency to his appeal to God to bless the world after launching military strikes in Syria. Similarly, when a policy crisis on gun violence reemerged in the wake of the Sutherland Springs, Texas, massacre, Speaker Ryan immediately reverted to religious rituals urging prayer for the community, but stopping short of a call for legislation to address gun violence—something he is well positioned to do.

Public facing piety and religious references from President Trump and GOP lawmakers in Congress are increasingly difficult to square with their public policy decisions. The tax reform legislation is one of the most glaring examples. Their aggressive legislative efforts to take from the least to give to corporations and people with the most are morally and ethically indefensible. In fact, these efforts are antithetical to the social teachings of Christianity and many other faith traditions that encourage courageous compassion and emphasize the responsibility to reject greed and give in service of the common good. The tax legislation is a profound illustration of the disconnect between a professed faith identity and actions that are inconsistent with the fundamental tenants of faith traditions. Continue reading “5 Reasons Communities of Faith Should Be Alarmed by the Tax Bill”

Tax Reform: This is the one big problem with the Republican tax “postcard” plan

The following article by Emily C. Singer was posted on the mic.com website November 16, 2017:

House Republicans love to tout the idea that their tax reform plan will make filing your taxes so easy you can do it all on what they call a “Simple, Fair ‘postcard’” — the same postcard President Donald Trump can be seen kissing in a video from Nov. 2.

“You can file your taxes, I’m going to bring a couple props out, literally on a postcard,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said this week at a town hall, showing off the small piece of paper he says 90% of Americans will be able to use to file their taxes if Republicans have their way. Continue reading “Tax Reform: This is the one big problem with the Republican tax “postcard” plan”

House Republicans Vote to Raise Taxes on 36 Million Middle-Class Families

The following message from Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer was e-mailed November 17, 2017:

Yesterday, House Republicans passed their tax scam bill through the House, voting to raise taxes on 36 million middle-class families, provide massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and corporations, and add $1.5 trillion dollars to the deficit. House Democrats unanimously opposed this tax scam that overwhelmingly benefits the wealthy while leaving the middle class behind and triggering a$25 billion cut to Medicare next year alone. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to reject this bill and work with Democrats to reform the tax code in a bipartisan, transparent, and revenue neutral fashion. Continue reading “House Republicans Vote to Raise Taxes on 36 Million Middle-Class Families”

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”

House tax plan faces bipartisan backlash over repeal of development incentives

The following article by Peter Jamison was posted on the Washington Post website November 15, 2017:

Local officials say private activity bonds needed for affordable housing

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), right, says House Republicans’ tax plan would devastate cities’ efforts to develop affordable housing. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

The grand opening Wednesday of Archer Park, an affordable housing complex of 190 units in a long-troubled neighborhood of Southeast Washington, had the trappings of similar ceremonies in the past.

But along with oversized ribbon-cutting scissors and celebratory speeches, the gathering had something less typical: An undertone of alarm over looming changes to the federal tax code that D.C. officials say would make developments like Archer Park impossible.

The development’s solar-paneled roof and immaculate workout room have replaced what was once a set of squat brick buildings that hosted an open-air drug market — but only with help from a system of tax-exempt financing that would be eliminated in House Republicans’ proposed tax overhaul. Continue reading “House tax plan faces bipartisan backlash over repeal of development incentives”

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”

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”

Senate GOP changes tax bill to add Obamacare mandate repeal, make individual income cuts expire

The following article by Mike DeBonis and Damian Paletta was posted on the Washington Post website November 14, 2017:

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

Senate Republican leaders moved Tuesday to include a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate in their tax bill, a major change of strategy as they try to accomplish two of their top domestic priorities in a single piece of legislation.

They also announced that the individual tax cuts in the plan would be made temporary, expiring at the end of 2025 to comply with Senate rules limiting the impact of legislation on the long-term deficit. A corporate tax cut, reducing the rate from 35 to 20 percent, would be left permanent. Continue reading “Senate GOP changes tax bill to add Obamacare mandate repeal, make individual income cuts expire”

Senate GOP to Delay Corporate Tax Cut, Repeal ‘SALT’ Deduction

The following article by Joe WIlliams and Niels Lesniewski was posted on the Roll Call website November 9, 2017:

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven at a news conference in the Capitol on Tuesday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Updated 5:25 p.m. | Senate Republicans proposed Thursday to delay a corporate tax cut for one year and fully repeal the deduction for state and local taxes, taking a different approach than the House on overhauling the tax code.

The plan highlights released by the Senate Finance Committee show shared goals with the House bill advanced by the Ways and Committee on Thursday. Both would provide tax cuts at all income levels, slash the corporate rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, and expand benefits for families with children. For multinational companies, the proposals would shift to a new territorial tax regime.

But the mechanisms for achieving such goals are different.

Unlike the House bill, the Senate proposal would keep seven tax brackets for individuals. The brackets would be adjusted to 10 percent, 12 percent, 22.5 percent, 25 percent, 32.5 percent, 35 percent and 38.5 percent, according to Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota. The House bill has four brackets of 12 percent, 25 percent, 35 percent and 39.6 percent. Continue reading “Senate GOP to Delay Corporate Tax Cut, Repeal ‘SALT’ Deduction”