Tag: Reaganomics

Rigged: How the US tax law props up people like Donald Trump — while screwing over everyday Americans

The New York Times disclosure that Donald Trump  was able “to avoid paying income taxes” for years, while he racked up $1.17 billion in losses, tells you all you need to know about the American system of taxation that rewards risk, debt and speculation because it so completely insulates the greediest among us from the real world consequences of all three.

The Times compared their Trump file “with detailed information the I.R.S. compiles on an annual sampling of high-income earners. His core business losses in 1990 and 1991 — more than $250 million each year — were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers in the I.R.S. information for those years.”

We know that our tax system taxes wages we earn at a much higher rate than the profits the rich earn off their investments. But it’s more perverse than that because it actually incentivizes the most predatory traits of vulture capitalism.

View the complete May 12 article by Bob Hennelly of Salon on the AlterNet website here.

Where The Money Is: How Trump’s Tax Cut Plundered America

Famed bank robber Willie Sutton once explained that he busted into banks because “that’s where the money is.” What a small-timer! Corporate thieves — including the biggest banks — know that the big scores are in the tax code and federal budget. America’s superrich establishment decided to woo Trump and his fanatical constituency to back their agenda of plutocratic plunder.

It’s working. The big legislative accomplishment of the guy who claimed to be a working-class hero was his 2017 Christmastime signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As most Americans now realize, the tax cut was not for them but instead was a disgraceful trillion-dollar-a-year giveaway to corporate giants and their wealthiest shareholders.

According to Americans for Tax Fairness, hundreds of Trump’s corporate backers are already making a killing. In just the first three quarters of 2018, big business quietly pocketed stunning tax savings they would have — and should have — paid to support America’s public needs:

  • Apple: $4.5 billion
  • AT&T: $2.2 billion
  • Bank of America: $2.4 billion
  • Verizon: $1.75 billion
  • Walmart: $1.6 billion

View the complete May 4 article by Jim Hightower on the National Memo website here.

Trump’s tax cut plan promised working class job creation and pay raises. Where did all the money go?

America’s superrich establishment decided to woo Trump and his fanatical constituency to back their agenda of plutocratic plunder.

Famed bank robber Willie Sutton once explained that he busted into banks because “that’s where the money is.” What a small-timer! Corporate thieves – including the biggest banks – know that the big scores are in the tax code and federal budget. America’s superrich establishment decided to woo Trump and his fanatical constituency to back their agenda of plutocratic plunder.

It’s working. The big legislative accomplishment of the guy who claimed to be a working-class hero was his 2017 Christmastime signing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As most Americans now realize, the tax cut was not for them but instead was a disgraceful trillion-dollar-a-year giveaway to corporate giants and their wealthiest shareholders. Continue reading “Trump’s tax cut plan promised working class job creation and pay raises. Where did all the money go?”

Profitable Giants Like Amazon Pay $0 in Corporate Taxes. Some Voters Are Sick of It.

AKRON, Ohio — Colin Robertson wonders why he pays federal taxes on the $18,000 a year he makes cleaning carpets, while the tech giant Amazon got a tax rebate.

His concerns about a tilted economic playing field recently led Mr. Robertson to join the Akron chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. At a gathering this month, as members discussed Karl Marx and corporate greed over chocolate chip cookies, it wasn’t long before talk turned to income inequality and how the government helps the wealthy avoid taxes.

“One of the benefits of taxation is taking it and using it for the collective good,” said Mr. Robertson, 25, comparing his minimal income to the roughly $150 billion net worth of Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive and the world’s richest person.

View the complete April 29 article by Stephanie Saul and Patricia Cohen on The New York Times website here.

Even millionaires are ashamed of their absurdly low tax bills

Fats Domino sings: “I found my thrill, on Blueberry Hill.” Maybe, but America’s richest corporate powers know precisely where to find their thrill: On Capitol Hill.

They rushed there in 2017 with a passion hotter than high school love, spewing the pheromones of campaign cash into the Republican congressional caucus. Sure enough, the GOP Congress came through for the corporations, satisfying their lust to have their tax rate lowered from 35 percent to 21 percent — lower than a modest-income working stiff pays.

Actually, the corporate elites hadn’t been paying anywhere near 35 percent, since they used dozens of loopholes to cut their average rate to about 13 percent. Yet Republican lawmakers coddled these privileged giants with a rate cut — plus, they kept intact most of those gaping loopholes. Thus, many corporate behemoths paid $0 in federal taxes this year. Or less!

View the complete April 27 article by Jim Hightower on the AlterNet website here.

On Tax Day, Still ‘No Evidence’ Trump Tax Cuts Are Trickling Down to Workers

If you’re curious where the promised $4,000 raise from the GOP tax cut went, look no further than the bank accounts of the wealthiest Americans.”

Wall Street banks, pharmaceutical companies, and corporate CEOs have a lot to celebrate on Tax Day thanks to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

The vast majority of workers, not so much.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, most U.S. workers have seen little to no benefit from the GOP’s $1.5 trillion Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

View the complete April 15 article by Jake Johnson on the Common Dreams website here.

Furious taxpayers rain hell on GOP after tweet touting Trump’s tax plan hilarious backfires

The Republican Party on Monday tried to celebrate Tax Day by touting the purported effectiveness of its signature tax cut — but they were quickly hit with blowback from angry taxpayers.

In a tweet posted early Monday morning, the GOP boasted that its tax cuts “have put money back into the pockets of hardworking Americans so that they can spend it on things that actually matter to them and their families.”

However, many angry Americans shot back at the GOP and said they’d been stunned to find that they actually owed the government money after the IRS put too much money in their paychecks as a way to juice the economy.

View the complete April 15 article by Brad Reed on the AlterNet website here.

Poll: Only 18 percent say they are paying less under Trump tax law

Less than one in five registered voters say they paid less in taxes during the first year of President Trump‘s landmark tax law, a Hill-HarrisX poll released Monday finds.

Only 18 percent of respondents say they are paying less in federal taxes for 2018 compared to 2017 in the survey, which was taken ahead of the April 15 tax deadline.

A majority said their 2018 tax bill was about the same or higher compared to 2017. Thirty-two percent said their federal taxes were higher under the Trump tax law. A plurality of respondents, 36 percent, said they owed about the same in federal taxes compared to the previous year. Fourteen percent said they were not sure whether they paid more or less.

View the complete April 15 article on The Hill website here.

Rep. Phillips Statement on President Trump’s Tax Day Visit to Minnesota

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) released the following response to President Trump’s Tax Day visit to Minnesota:

“What President Trump didn’t talk about on Tax Day is how his tax scam harms countless Minnesota families who can’t claim their full SALT deductions for the first time. He didn’t talk about how it saddled future generations with more than 1.4 trillion dollars to our national debt. And he certainly didn’t talk about his continued attacks on quality, affordable, accessible health care for Minnesotans and people across the country. There is hard work to be done to make our government work for the people again, and I’m committed to doing that work in Congress.”

Trump tax ‘cut’ actually increased taxes for 10 million American families, report finds

A Center for American Progress estimate found that 10,260,263 families saw their taxes go up, thanks to the 2017 law.

Donald Trump ran in 2016 promising that every American would receive a tax cut. But he has already raised taxes on an estimated 10 million families, according to a new analysis.

The Center for American Progress released its calculations on Friday, based on datafrom the non-partisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. It found that 10,260,263 American families saw a tax hike last year, thanks to the president’s 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act. (ThinkProgress in an editorially independent news site housed at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.)

“Everybody is getting a tax cut, especially the middle class,” Trump told CNN in May 2016.

View the complete April 12 article by Josh Israel on the ThinkProgress website here.