Tag: Trump wealthcare

Want to Know More About: GOP Tax Cut Bills, U.S. Middle Class Wages

Steve Rattner: “Let’s Look At After Inflation. What You’ll See There Is A Different Picture. What You See There, In Fact, Wages Have Been Rising More Slowly Under Trump Than Under And That Is In Part Because Of Inflation.” STEVE RATTNER: “Well, like most things it is not completely factually correct. Let’s look at a couple of chart. First, let’s look at the chart of what’s happened to nominal wages which is wages before you adjust for inflation what you can see here is what the president is talking about, which is this little jiggle up these last couple of years if you look at it in historical context it’s a small jiggle. That’s before inflation. Let’s look at after inflation. What you’ll see there is a different picture. What you see there, in fact, wages have been rising more slowly under trump than under and that is in part because of inflation. So under trump wages have only gone up, they were flat in June, flat in July they were flat, up a little bit in August but all told only up .3% a year under trump as opposed to Obama it’s a worse situation than it was under Obama.”  [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/24/18; VIDEO]

Steve Rattner: “It Has Left The Middle Class, Many Who Voted For Trump, Worse Off Or Not Better Off Than Before.” STEVE RATTNER: “Then let’s look at a couple of other interesting things first some new data that came out about what’s happened to different strata of our society. Not surprisingly the top 10% of Americans have actually done pretty well. You see that the 50th percentile, the median here you see the top has done pretty well you see interestingly enough the bottom has done pretty well. What you also see the middle has not done very well the top we know why that’s happened the bottom has happened because of substantial increases in minimum wages by quite a number of states. It has left the middle class, many who voted for trump worse off or not better off than before.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/24/18; VIDEO]

Credit-Card Republicans Dig A $900 Billion Hole

Trump’s Deficit Chickens Now Coming Home To Roost

President Donald Trump is applauded by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Credit:  Joshua Roberts, Reuters

The first of two official government reports that will be released this month showing that the federal budget deficit is soaring was issued on Monday when the Congressional Budget Office published it’s Monthly Budget Review for August.

According to CBO, the deficit through the first 11 months of fiscal 2018 was $895 billion, a $222 billion (32.8%) increase over the same period in 2017.

Some of the increase was the result of timing shifts, that is, spending that was made at the end of August because the first two days of September were on weekend. The deficit for the 11-month period would have been only $154 billion larger than 2017 had it not been for that.

View the complete September 13 post by Stan Collender on the DCReport.org website here.

The Tax Bill That Would Launch More Than 13,000 Yachts

Credit: Xeromatic via Lifeofpix.com

The current congressional majority has made its priorities painfully clear. In 2017, the legislative calendar was dominated by an attempt to strip health care from millions of people in order to provide significant tax cuts to the wealthy. When that failed, Congress turned to a tax bill known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), which was essentially a corrupt giveaway that provided massive windfalls to wealthy donors, special interests, and members of Congress themselves. The law will provide more than $84.7 billion in tax cuts to the top 1 percent of Americans in 2019, while increasing health insurance premiums for millions of people and resulting in nearly 9 million fewer people with coverage.

Many of the staffers who were most involved in the TCJA’s passage have left the Hillfor lucrative jobs as lobbyists for the special interests to whom they provided special tax breaks. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH), who helped draft the TCJA, left shortly after its passage to become the head of the Ohio Business Roundtable—many of whose members benefited substantially from the bill.

Perhaps the most ostentatious example of this corruption came from Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan (R). Rep. Buchanan sits on the House committee that was charged with drafting the TCJA—a bill that gave him millions of dollars in special tax breaks. On the same day that he voted to pass the bill, Rep. Buchanan purchased a brand new 73-foot yacht with a base price of nearly $3 million.

View more of the article by Sam Berger and Galen Hendrickson on the Center for American Progress website.

Key Vote Alert: Rep. Paulsen Votes to Permanently Slash State and Local Tax Deductions, Put Social Security and Medicare on the Chopping Block

© Greg Nash

After voting to give massive handouts to the wealthy and corporations at the expense of the middle class with last year’s Tax Scam, Republicans are back for more. Rep. Paulsen, as a member of the Ways and Means Committee, voted yesterday topermanently cap the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, costing Minnesota families thousands of dollars per year. Rep. Paulsen also put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block by voting to increase the deficit by at least $631 billion, on top of the $1.9 trillion deficit increase that resulted from the GOP tax scam.

“Rep. Erik Paulsen voted to permanently slash the State and Local Tax deduction that hard working families in Minnesota rely on to save thousands of dollars a year and put Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block by adding another $631 billion to the deficits Republicans have already racked up thanks to their tax scam,” said DCCC spokesperson Rachel Irwin.“Voters know that as long as Paulsen is in office, their access to affordable healthcare and retirement security are at risk.”

 

Voters Are Not Feeling Benefits From The Economy

Most voters are not feeling any benefits from the growing economy. That’s because Trump and Republicans’ policies are only benefiting those at the top. While wealthy CEOs and big corporations take in record profits, real wages for workers continue to decline. Now, Republicans want to make life even harder for working families by gutting vital safety net programs they rely on, in order to help pay for more tax cuts for the rich.

Most voters are not feeling any benefits from the growing economy. Trump’s economic policies only benefit those at the top.

CNBC: “‘The economy’ may be roaring, but for most voters their economy is not. The difference between those two things reflects the income inequality that has defined America’s modern economy. The positive news Wall Street savors — robust corporate profits, rising stock prices, surging output growth — deliver the greatest rewards to a relatively modest share of more affluent Americans. The rest don’t feel it all that much.” Continue reading “Voters Are Not Feeling Benefits From The Economy”

U.S. Steel potentially faces ‘largest work stoppage since 1986’

The following article by Joseph S. Pete was posted on the NWITimes.com website September 10, 2018:

United Steelworkers union members rally for a fair contract outside Gary Works earlier this month.

The United Steelworkers union is accusing U.S. Steel of “playing a dangerous game of chicken with the markets, steelworkers and America,” as the possibility of the largest strike in more than three decades looms over ongoing contract talks.

U.S. Steel employees across the country voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike as the USW and U.S. Steel return to the bargaining table. The company has proposed a six-year contract it said would mean stability for families, a slight increase to 401(k) plans and a raise of 4 percent in the first year and 3 percent in each of the next two years.

The union objects to out-of-pocket health care costs that would in some cases reduce workers’ overall compensation, a switch from traditional pay raises to profit-sharing over the last three years in a six-year contract and a reduction in retiree benefits.

View the complete article here.

Trump Tax Law 2.0: Republicans Double Down On Tax Cuts For The Rich

The Trump tax law sent the deficit skyrocketing and gave a majority of the benefits to the richest Americans, while doing nothing for working families. Now, Republicans are doubling down on that unpopular law with more tax cuts for the wealthy.

The nonpartisan CBO says the deficit has skyrocketed by more than $200 billion over the last year, in large part because of Trump’s corporate tax cuts.

Axios: “The U.S. deficit grew by $222 billion from this time last year — reaching a total of $895 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office… This increase was due mostly to the new Republican tax law and Congress’ routine decision to increase spending, which grew by 7% compared to revenue growth of only 1%. The CBO says the deficit will approach $1 trillion by the end of Fiscal Year 2019.”

Washington Post: “Corporate tax receipts fell 30 percent in the past 11 months, the CBO said, precipitated by the large reduction in rates from the massive tax overhaul passed by Congress last year.” Continue reading “Trump Tax Law 2.0: Republicans Double Down On Tax Cuts For The Rich”

Want to Know More About: The Trump Tax Cut and the Federal Deficit

Mika Brzezinski: “According To New Analysis From The Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, The Deficit Rose By $222 Billion In The First 11 Months Of 2018. That Is A 3 2% Jump From The Same Time Period Last Year.” BRZEZINSKI: “The federal deficit on track to hit $1 trillion before the end of the fiscal year two years earlier than expected. According to new analysis from the nonpartisan congressional budget office, the deficit rose by $222 billion in the first 11 months of 2018. That is a 32% jump from the same time period last year. That brings the total figure to $895 billion.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/12/18; VIDEO]

Mika Brzezinski: “The CBO Says The Surge Is Due To The New Republican Tax Law And An Increase In Government Spending.” BRZEZINSKI: “According to new analysis from the nonpartisan congressional budget office, the deficit rose by $222 billion in the first 11 months of 2018. That is a 3 2% jump from the same time period last year. That brings the total figure to $895 billion. The CBO says the surge is due to the new Republican tax law and an increase in government spending. Officials say the figures were somewhat inflated due to a timing shift for some payments by the government.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/12/18; VIDEO]

Growth Has Lifted Counties That Voted for Trump. Mostly, It’s the Wealthy Ones.

The followoing article by Campbell Robertson and Jim Tankersley was posted on the New York Times website September 3, 2018:

President Trump’s economy has left the most distressed swaths of the country waiting for their share of the good times.

“You could feel things getting better and better,” said Tom Hughes, a homebuilder in St. Charles County, Mo., describing how his business began to rebound from the recession over the last few years.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — The prosperity is apparent on the way into town: the 21-floor casino resort and spa on one side of the interstate, and on the other a freshly built retail quarter of boutiques, a brand-new Hilton hotel and a P.F. Chang’s. It unfolds from there along the highways heading west with more gleaming office parks and multiplying subdivisions.

This is not the Trump country of the popular imagination, the land of shuttered plants and the economically left behind. St. Charles County, in the suburbs northwest of St. Louis, has had the highest median household income in Missouri for several years.

But in 2016, Donald J. Trump won the county by 26 points, and he is still popular among people like Tom Hughes, a homebuilder whose business was rebounding from the recession before Mr. Trump took office.

View the complete article here.

Help Wanted: Here’s Why America’s Labor Force Is Still Struggling — While Corporate Profits are Going Gangbusters

The following article by Jim Hightower was posted on the AlterNet website August 29, 2018:

The deeper issue is the overall lack of respect for workaday people.

Credit: Andreas Klinke Johannsen

Workers of America, rejoice!

As our nation of working stiffs celebrates Labor Day with backyard cookouts, an afternoon at the beach, rounds of golf, special sales at the mall or simply kicking back in a La-Z-Boy and doing several rounds of 12-ounce elbow bends, we can all take comfort in the happy news that our economy is whizzing! Yes, corporate economists exult that our US of A is enjoying the second-longest economic expansion on record; profits are off the charts; job creation continues to surge; wages are rising; and consumers are racking up record levels of purchases. What’s not to like about all that?

Two things. First, the economists’ claim about wage growth is a sham, covering up the shame that top corporate executives and major shareholders are grabbing nearly all of the economic gains produced by America’s entire workforce. The so-called nominal wage (i.e. the sum that workers see on their paychecks) has risen only 2.7 percent in the past year, a very mediocre result for the 82 percent of the labor force that is non-managerial worker bees.

View the complete article here.