To the Republican Congress and Trump American taxpayers are on to you and your farce of "tax reform " legislation just as they were with your attempts to repeal the ACA.
Yesterdays election results revealed a glaring example that voters are sick of your lies and antics. Be prepared to pay politically in 2018 if you continue in your deceit.
7
The House Ways and Means Committee issued several examples of how taxpayers would fare under their tax proposal and half the number were wrong! See http://usbudget.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-problems-with-taxpayer-examples... . Following is the last paragraph of the post:
The biggest concern raised by the House Cuts bill is likely the higher taxes that they represent to some lower income taxpayers in the first year and to many more lower income taxpayers in future years. Also, the above plots show that it is helpful to look at taxpayer examples over broad ranges of income. Still, it is very concerning that the examples released by the office of Speaker Paul Ryan (which came from the Committee of Ways and Means) are so full of apparent errors. This suggests that, even for something as seemingly simple as the calculation of taxes under various plans, publications should show their work.
1
Shouldn't corporations get a tax break AFTER they create jobs and grow wages instead of BEFORE? We tax businesses at a nominally high rate so we can reward good behavior by granting deductions for things like environmental responsibility, fair labor practices, and creating jobs in depressed places. And we tax estates so that the unearned wealth of heirs can be partially returned to the communities that fed them. This deal has no quid pro quo because its a bare-faced giveaway to campaign donors. Nothing else. Shameful!
7
When will journalists present numerical comparisons clearly to us? Why do we get fractions in one part of paragraph in the next? Consider:
80 percent of tax filers earning from $50,000 to $75,000 would receive a tax cut from the bill in 2019. By 2027, just 60 percent of taxpayers in that same income group would see a tax cut. Of those earning more than $1 million, three-quarters would see a tax cut in 2019, and by 2027, two-thirds of millionaires would continue to see a tax cut.
Using the correct percentage numbers in the last sentence, namely 75% and 67% respectively, would have made this comparison clear and straightforward.
The article does not mention the negative changes in the treatment of education, particularly graduate education. These changes will damage the American economy many times in excess of the revenue they might raise. Indeed, by raising the cost of graduate education, they are more likely to simply reduce graduate education. This will reduce the pipeline of teachers, engineers, physicians, and other skills that are needed for a 21st Century economy. Reducing the supply of high-skill workers in the labor force is a way to "Make America Ungreat".
Taxing fellowship tuition waivers will make graduate education impossible for those without outside resources. Making employee tuition benefits taxable will also be reduce graduate education. Already, graduate and professional students have often taken on substantial debt to achieve their educational goals, eliminating the deductibility of that debt after it has been incurred will also do damage.
The above ignores the effect that decreasing enrollment would have on the institutions themselves, which would be directly negative on many communities where colleges are one of the primary economic anchors. How many times must we revisit the "yacht" tax before we learn how not to raise revenue?
4
You would think that these tax moves would alienate the Republican Party from many in the electorate so that they would lose control in many of the future elections. Yet, I worry that so many in the electorate don't vote, don't follow what is going on and don't realize that, for many, voting Republican is certainly not in their interest. Yesterday's elections provides some hope for the future.
1
Trump said Republicans had to repeal the estate tax because there's nothing else in the tax proposal to benefit the rich. Trump lies with conviction, just as he's always saying we're the highest taxed nation on earth. Just a complete pathological liar. Imagine....a President of the U.S. hanging a fake Time Magazine cover touting his supposed great business acumen on the walls of his office.
1
The "pro-life" GOP in the House decide to cut the adoption tax credit.
Peter Roskam, our Rep in IL-06 is silent. No town hall. No explanations as to how he can possibly square this tax plan with is supposed faith and ideology. He is but one example of GOP cowardice.
Bought and paid for hypocrites of the highest order. The GOP is a fraud.
VOTE ALL GOP OUT.
Let Virginia be a lesson that the GOP cannot gerrymander it's way to power forever.
Cowards.
3
If these mental giants try to do a backdoor health care repeal in this tax holiday for their wealthy masters, then the bill will die in the Senate. But they could still claim ideological purity afterward, which is paramount, right?
The deficit will elevate, the poor will suffer, the corrupt will become more corrupt and the Republicans will then blame Barack Obama.
You have to be an idiot to think the tax plan is reform. It's a tax cut for those who need it the least.
Republican policies are a stain on America in almost every single way from their silence on the Russia issues, to immigration, to healthcare, infrastructure and climate change.
Even Syria signed on to the Paris Climate Accord so now we stand alone in the world in this area.
Ask a Republican about the dismal failure in their leadership, or absence thereof and they'll to a person, mention Hillary. Were it not so ignorant, it would be laughable.
1
I just spent over an hour listening to the debate in the House Ways and Means Committee on an amendment to keep the SALT deductions in the proposed tax bill. The debate was televised on C-Span2. How many Americans watch C-Span or CS2? Very few, I'd estimate. The whole thing is a disgrace. The bill should be debated by both parties for a period of several weeks, if not months, and televised bigly on, say, CBS or NBC or FOX, if not all of them. But no, our despicable Party of NO (the GOP, in case you've forgotten) wants a unilateral bill to be rushed through in a matter of days, shoved down the throats of an unsuspecting public, touted by their leadership as favoring the middle class. I'm laughing so hard that I'm crying. What happened to America? Where is it? What is it?
10
Conan the Republican Barbarian says "the best thing in life is to crush the sick and the crippled, to hear their bones break as you drive your tax deductible limousine over their wheelchairs". it feels so good to watch the old suffer and hear the lamentations of the parents of handicapped children. Then you turn up the music and drive on. My 100% disabled wife will incur $100,000 in medical expenses next year. This is a vicious attack on the sickest and most disabled Americans. So this is a 30,000 tax increase. This deduction is taken only by the sickest Americans and the Republicans are throwing cripples under a bus.
9
The Republicans are punishing the citizens in their millions by taking away deductions that have been on the books for generations to help rich businessmen who use legal tricks called pass through corporations, the Uber rich, and the Uber Uber rich who number in the thousands.
This is their screw America moment because they know they’re doomed in 2018 and 2020 after the clown in chief continues to crash his way through our democracy. This is the last hurrah for Ryan and moon face McCONNEL
12
McConnell dismissed analyses that showed the tax legislation would add to the deficit.
Of course, McConnell did!
The old joke – How do you know a Politician is lying?
Answer: His or her lips are moving!
Stop listening to these Elected Politicians. Let’s discuss the ugly facts.
Since assuming office, the 4 Republican Politicians of the “Big Six” working on Tax Cuts, our national debt has increased (in $trillions):
Hatch $19.9 T
McConnell $18.7 T
Brady $15.2 T
Ryan $14.9 T
And, McCarthy can boast his $11.8 Trillion! These are the guys entrusted to protect our well-being?
These Elected Politicians, and others, have looted your Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds and enslaved you and future generations in debt while enriching themselves. A debt you will pay – one way or another!
They don't care about you. They only care about passing some rushed through, backroom dealing, not properly thought through or tested legislation.
We must find a way to hold self-interested Elected Politicians and their staffers, from both parties, personally liable, responsible and accountable for the lies they have told US, their gross mismanagement of our county, our $20.5 T and growing national debt (108% of GDP), and our $100 T in future, unfunded liabilities they forced on US jeopardizing our economic and national security, while benefiting themselves, their staffers, their party and special interest donors.
http://www.usdebtforum.com
27
They have thought it through. They know what they want. It just so happens that they are not for the average American. Their constituency is very limited.
1
“The president said this bill is really bad for rich people,”
Mr. Trump said that Republicans had to repeal the estate tax because there was nothing else in the legislation to benefit the rich.“
It is no wonder this presient has no credibility!!!!! Does he actually believe the words that come out of his own mouth??? The irony of this big business and wealthy give away is the tax avoidence steps revealed in this weeks NYT regarding Apple, big business, and the wealthiest Americans.
Maybe if all those persons and corporations paid what is fair then we would not be in this revenue crisis. With 2-3-4 trillion dollars in taxable income sitting off shore why not tax them appropriately!!!!! Now is also a great time to repeal the estate tax. Who are these people kidding???
12
Pathological liars know they are lying, and know you know they are lying, but they lie anyway. That is Trump!
2
I want to know how much this H.R. Bill 1 helps Donald and Family? I can already see Billions just with the AMT and Estate Tax going away, but how many Billions will our 'Liar in Chief' stands to make from this Bill (and all the gifts he gets by being the President)? This man is Greed, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Envy, and Anger/Vengeance personified! Add in ignorance/stupidity to that mix. What a President we have. Thanks Hillary and the DNC! and RNC!
We deserve the tax forms of our President or we will assume he lies on those as well and doesn't want you or me to see the truth!
12
Carried interest is also a big one for commercial real estate.
1
Watching the current crop of House and Senate Republicans is like watching first year students at clown college: They think they can fool the children in the audience with their silly card tricks, but they do not realize that the average fifth grader is smarter than they are.
In other words, no one but the GOP and greedy millionaires think the top 2% deserves a tax cut, and no one but the GOP believes that people are going to do nothing while the House and Senate vote to take away their healthcare in order to reduce taxes for people who have more money than they could spend on themselves in a lifetime.
GOP: Watch today's election results. Watch the canary in the Trump mine. Please stop this nonsense. No one elected you to ruin our country. Do the right thing, do something for the people who voted for you, and you might have a chance to keep your job after the next election.
21
There are a lot of Republican voters who support this shooting on Fifth Ave!
the gop is peddling this thing like an unscrupulous used car salesman; highlighting things that make you want to buy it but failing to show you the rust and flood damage underneath the car that make it worthless.
13
The wealthy elite clearly will profit the most from this bill. Billionaires and megamillionaires will get the lion's share of cuts. I am ashamed that the President, and his party, would falsely state the new code would benefit the poor and middle class. They would hand some taxpayers crumbs, and actually raise the taxes of others in the middle. The poor would stay poor, ravaged by inflation and low wages. Trump is a liar. He is basically telling 99% of Americans to eat cake. This bill cannot pass.
29
In Reply to Rich:
You are absolutely right: this bill should not pass! But who is there to stop it? The Republicans who endorse the bill have a " let them eat cake" mentality. The are the minions of the millionaires such as the Koch brothers, etc. But, who is there to protect the workers, the "average" American? The prososal will take away from the largest segments of our population the ability to take personal deductions, health care deductions, and mortgage deductions, while the wealthy continue to increase their wealth. Doesn't sound like democracy to me.
1
The one and only question for law makers is, "Will this bill hurt my chances for re-election funding?".
When it comes to the welfare of their constituents, the response is "Who cares? They don't sign my checks!".
10
Your three reporters have siezed the prize for understatement of the year: "Democrats generally disagree with the president's assessment." However, Trump will probably be president through next month and will continue to lie reflexively and remain as detached as humanly possible from reality.
5
During the Eisenhower Administration the top marginal income tax rate was 90%. Imagine: people taxing themselves to pay for things they need and want. What a bunch of suckers.
3
The richest 1 percent of the world’s population now owns more than half of global wealth, and the top 10 percent owns about 90 percent. Virtually every US elected representative is a millionaire. These are the peole who are writing tax legislation that will favor the middle class by eliminating the estate tax and giving $270 billion over 10 years to the richest 0.02% of the polulation. This bill must be stopped at all costs.
10
The truth about this bill is it's another lousy piece of legislation that puts the lower middle class and middle class in distress at the least while giving un-needed cushion to the very wealthy. And if anyone is still buying that tax cuts will stimulate wage growth or job creation, well how many times over the decades has that whopper failed? Bad policy, bad process, bad bills.
7
Reagan spoke for Borax and the rich; Clinton spoke for the middle class and left a surplus in the treasury; "W" spoke for his rich cronies, and left us with a forever war and profits for the MIC; Obama paid down our debt, created jobs and left us on an even keel. Now, we have one of the stupidest Presidents in my lifetime, and a Cabinet stacked with rapacious plutocrats who will rape the land, hoard money off shore, profit from the misery of their fellow citizens, and live as removed from the suffering as was Marie Antoinette. We can't bring back the guillotine; however, we can promise our infamous private prison system some really big profits when these robber barons are finally sent there.
1
If republicans, moderates, independents, and democrats do not vote out any congressman/woman from office that supports repeal or phaseout of estate tax America has no future.
5
This is the upside of the Republicans winning - the party of NO now has no choice but to act like adults.
Their sheer incompetence is obvious now - we need to vote them out before they hone their subterfuge skills. All the current crop had to do for the last eight years is complain about the Dems.
As a Kansan I've been living this trickle-down, low-taxes-brings-growth lie for the past 8 years.
Write your congressmen/women, and VOTE!!!
6
Trump says the tax bill won't benefit him personally. Shouldn't we see his tax returns, just to be sure?
10
The republican party sold its soul long, long ago. Any proposal that eliminates the estate tax is a giveaway to the rich donor class, pure and simple.
This despicable bill should be seen for what it is - an act of war, a declaration of war on the middle class.
Get money of out politics now. Only 10% of the people control 90% of the country's wealth. Hmm, I wonder who congress listens to.
8
Elect a Congress of Democrats and Independents; then force them to address public financing of elections for President. Repeal Citizens United and use any future Supreme Court appointments to put decent, learned and moderate Justices. We cannot afford another Gorsuch who recently ruled in favor of an employer who fired a big rig driver for detaching his trailer in an ice storm so he could drive his cab over dangerous icy roads to a safe place. He didn't freeze to death in his rig. Gorsuch ruled against that working man. He will rule in favor of dismantling Roe v. Wade; he will rule in favor of the rich and powerful whenever they appear before him. Gorsuch is the result of McConnell's ability to stall Obama's SC appointment of Merrick Garland; he is the result of what gerrymandering in key voting districts produced. Start local: elect honest Governors and legislators; undo gerrymandered districts; use the power of the vote to save the country from a slide towards third world economic status. Don't be distracted by the draft dodging war monger in the WH; concentrate on taking back Congress State by State; Governor by Governor. That is how we save the Republic we established 250 years ago. Kudos to voters in Virginia and New Jersey.
And still not a peep about the proposal to eliminate the deduction for medical expenses. Let's see, just because this doesn't affect half the population means we should ignore the crushing effect of astronomical medical bills on those who are affected.
A pox on all of them, I say.
7
As a middle class senior in a "low SALT" state, this legislation still raises my taxes and will do so more through the lack of any provision for health-care deductions. I will have less money to spend, and that can't be good for any business in this state.
This is just bad tax policy all around unless you're Donald Trump and his cabinet.
7
The primary purpose of the tax bill is to continue the raiding of income and assets from working, middle-class, retired and veteran segments of the electorate and passing them on to the top one percent and multi-national businesses.
The tax bill simply speeds up the process.
8
Why?
Trump just said the economy was as good as ever.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Leave the tax code alone.
16
“The challenge to the American public is what is the truth about this bill,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I think what’s most important is we should state the facts.”
Right! That's why they have to rush this through and use reconciliation to get it passed.
A republican telling the truth is a thing of the past.
33
Let's not forget the usual Republican way of creating legislation: In secret behind closed doors. I've been saying for months on these pages that Republicans will never learn that they can't do it by themselves. They keep assuming that they know best, according to all the lobbyists they deal with, anyway. No experts or across-the-aisle Democrats wanted. Like a badly-built tree house with a big "Keep Out" sign.
Perhaps the GOP would care to comment why, exactly, that their secret tax code bill is needed at this moment in time? The nation has already hit the magic watershed 3% economic growth rate. And they want to apply the Kansas experiment across the whole country and hope for the best when it nearly bankrupted the state? Their belief in unicorns is commendable but hardly realistic. Especially when their child-like faith in the existence of said unicorns is their concept of competent governing of a country. Hard to take these so-called adults seriously.
3
I don't want any decision of any of these worthless sleazeballs affecting my life in any way.
3
They don't believe in Unicorns. They don't believe that tax cut for the wealth will spur growth, they don't believe average American's will see a $4k-5k increase in wages. They throw those things out there as excuses, for their base voters. One thing they do know, if they can move all this money to the top they will have succeeded in keeping their moneyed overlords happy.
The day will come when a much less oligopoly friendly, corporation-friendly Congress takes office, and then the money will come from where it went.
At the same time, off-shore tax havens will dry up and there will be no place for their money to run.
What the big boys don't realize is that the more they enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else, the madder everyone else becomes. At some point, that slow boil will turn into an explosion. The smart ones realize this; the oblivious ones don't.
They are sowing the seeds of their own destruction.
25
Not in you lifetime.
thank goodness for Republican ineptitude - if they could actually accomplish anything we'd all be in trouble. well, all of us making less than $1M a year.
13
One thing is certain, the Republicans will explode our budget deficit - they always do . Next thing will be Goldman Sachs taking over our roads & bridges since the government is always bad. After all these tax cuts who has money for infrastructure. I am sure this will sell on Fox News - better To trust Goldman Sachs than our government.
10
Paul Ryan will have the votes on this legislation as he did with the ACA repeal and replace. The heavy lifting on the tax cut bill will be done in the Senate. That is the show to watch.
6
Baby boomers are the worst. They are the current governing body ramming this horrendous bill down are throats. I think the JCT study was too narrow, far more are going to see a tax increase than it predicts. With the loss of personal exemptions and many vital deductions, get out your check books! The memo line should read "pay to the order of the Trump Dynasty."
Baby boomers, the only generation to leave their kids off worse than they were! Its okay though, the baby boomers utilized the SALT and mortgage interest deductions until their houses were paid off, they don't need them anymore, so feel free to do away with them! Also, don't worry about rising college costs, the baby boomers went to school when a semester cost $1,500 and you could pay for it working 5 hours a week! No need to address these things now! The BOOMERS ARE SET!
3
What silliness!
Who lost the most from the 2008 Reccession?
8
Neither Paul Ryan nor Mitch McConnell is a Baby Boomer. Try blaming the several Republican Presidents that we have endured, and their supporting Republican Congresses.
3
It's not boomers it's REPUBLICANS you know the best politicians money can buy
4
This huge giveaway to the billionaires and corporations is going to collapse under its own bloated weight of unfairness and lies. Besides, the Republicans have already proven themselves completely incompetent at compromise and nuance, the two key ingredients in passing major legislation. Their first and most gigantic mistake was not starting with infrastructure repair, instead of starting with undoing everything Obama.
36
What happened to open hearings? What happened to honest dialogue? Where is the transparent, thoughtful process that legislating should be when you are impacting the lives of every single person in this country? Are there no adults in the room? This is the behavior of children, deviously plotting their raid of the refrigerator in the night, thinking that no one is awake. I have news for the GOP. A storm is coming.
21
The only thing we learned from the much overhyped Rachel Maddow reveal of the one page of Trump’s 2005 tax return is that the Alternative Minimum Tax increased his tax liability by over $30 million in that one year.
Repealing it is a straight up giveaway to Trump and fellow very richkins.
13
“There are all kinds of reports about all kinds of proposals,” Mr. McConnell said, noting the Senate had not yet unveiled its bill. “We fully anticipate this tax proposal in the end to be revenue neutral to the government, if not a revenue gainer.”
Key word here is "anticipate"---they have absolutely no facts or empirical evidence to back up their grasping-at-straws approach to nearly every issue or problem the country needs solving. Let's face it, the GOP isn't interested in solving anything except how they're going to fund their next election, and "wishful thinking" seems to be their gist of their policy prescriptions these days. Shameful.
10
I am a nobody in Indiana. Hard working middle class. My birthday wish is that I can some day buy off a Congressman or at the very least have my own lobbyist.
14
Vote your pocket book, your kids future, not abortion or guns....or are you just another sucker who thinks mike pence gives a hoot about an unborn child. Lol.
1
A good place to start is to stop voting Republican and vote in your OWN self interest. A government that does things FOR the people instead of TO the people
2
I see a light at the end of the tunnel for this tax reform bill and I certainly hope it is an oncoming train.
21
What is criminally dishonest about the Republican Tax plan is that the
tax bill also allows the beneficiaries of estates to not pay capital
gains taxes on the increase in value of assets held by the estates. That
has not been a feature of most previous estate-tax bills.
12
Trump is interested in repealing the estate tax? Oh, really? I wonder why?
OH, and his "fully depreciated buildings," meaning now they have a basis of zero but would be taxed in his estate at their fair market value, would not be taxed but WOULD BE stepped up in basis to the fair market value. So his lovely children could start depreciating them all anew, further sheltering all the income they make.
Lovely.
11
I am really disappointed with the way that the tax bill will mean that members of the middle class will have to pay more. Who was it that said, the power to tax is the power to destroy? But if you are a populist, you want a large base of very poor, uneducated people in the electorate and the destruction of educated, reasonably self-sufficient voters....
5
Right now we see many Republican members advocate for the middle class. That is merely a show. By the time the vote comes, they will silently vote for the rich in the middle of the night. Do not be fooled. These are not people of principle that want to help the ordinary folk. They just want their votes while they serve their rich donors.
11
Don't fall for all of the Republican lies about their tax plan being revenue-neutral or benefiting primarily the working class. This is all about tax cuts for the wealthy financed by deficit spending. They will claim, for instance, that the estate tax hurts small business and farm owners. Complete rubbish! A couple can currently pass on $11 million in wealth to the next generation without the beneficiaries incurring ANY Federal taxes on the windfall. What is the economic rationale for this? None, of course. It will however worsen the already terrible income and wealth inequality in the U.S. Oh, and it will reward the wealthy financiers of the Republican Party.
11
The one good thing about this tax bill is the elimination of the deductibility for state and local taxes. Progressive states like New York have every right to pay their employees lavishly and provide generous benefits to citizens and non-citizens alike. But why should other states subsidize these choices by having to pay more federal tax because progressive state taxpayers pays less due to deductibility of the high state/local taxes? New York's choice should be its own and not be subsidized by others.
2
Stupid.
4
But don't the people in "other states" pay far less in state and property taxes? Yes, people in "progressive" states get to deduct some degree of those high state and property taxes on the IRS forms, but they still have to write the checks to their own states. And don't the "progressive" states send more money to D.C. then the "other" states? I believe nearly all of the "progressive states are in the bottom half of any list of the most federally dependent states.
New Yorkers and others in high property tax states are actually doing what you Republican types say you support: taking care of their needs so the federal government doesn't have to. Why should we reward low tax states that reap so much more in Federal largesse than states like New York and California?
2
“The challenge to the American public is what is the truth about this bill,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I think what’s most important is we should state the facts.”
I love those two sentences. It is a challenge to ascertain the truth in adversarial situations. And as far as what's most important, that would be the merits of the facts themselves not simply gaining an expression of those facts.
3
I like that they are actually trying to crack down on tax dodging by American companies, but reducing the corporate tax rate to 20% is really a nonstarter and simply explodes the deficit. If they were to decrease it to 30% coupled with the crack down on tax evasion that would be alright and they might even be able to pull off a budget neutral bill. One other bit that is highly questionable is that the threshold for the highest tax rate doubles for married fillers whereas the second highest bracket there is only a 25% increase.
2
No one should be surprised that this “tax bill” is just a cobbling of cuts that would benefit the rich and increase taxes on the poor and middle class. It’s drafted by Wall Street and benefits Trump and his billionaire cohorts. Cuts to mortgage interest and families is nothing new. The average price of homes on the coasts is double or triple the national average so the majority of workers (80% live on the coasts) will suffer. Average Americans saw their taxes increase under Reagan and this bill would complete the travesty of justice.
11
This isn’t reform in any genuine sense of the word. The proposal adds $1.5 trillion, or $150 billion per year, to the deficit. Nothing that objectively worsens our country’s finances can rightfully be characterized as a reform.
The Republican plan is to cut the taxes of (some) people today by burdening the citizens and taxpayers of the future with debt. That debt will be repaid through increased debt service payments, higher taxes later, currency inflation that weakens everyone’s purchasing power, or all of the above.
I would have some grudging respect for Republicans if they had the political courage to cut spending to match the amount of revenue they are willing to raise. But no. They reduce revenue and spend the same. To make up the difference they try to sell people on trickle down, supply side, dynamic scoring, or whatever other fairy tale they use to make sense of the nonsense that you can earn less, spend the same, and not go bankrupt.
6
" Mr Issa faces a difficult re-election campaign in 2018."
Understatement of the year.
28
Yes, Mr. Issa and any other California Republican who votes in favor of this legislation.
Given the removal of the deduction for Medical Expenses, isn't it time to revive the term "Death Panels"?
Never mind that Punishment of Blue States isn't even covert-- it's out in the open. Tough-- you voted for Hillary!
Andrew Jackson is looking down (or up) proudly at the latest implementation of the Spoils System.
23
Another NYT article had this quote:
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, went further, telling the MSNBC host Hugh Hewitt over the weekend that “nobody in the middle class is going to get a tax increase” under the bill.
I sincerely hope the NYT will remember Senator McConnell's promise of no middle class tax increase and blare that lie all over the front page when his words are proven untrue, as they certainly will be if Republicans pass this travesty of a bill.
The bill is not designed to cut middle class taxes. It is clearly designed to benefit Trump's cronies and fellow one percenters so they can further pad their already over padded nests.
Let the big corporations dump their three trillion in cash deposits into the economy and grow jobs and investments that way. Then, if they can prove that using three trillion of their own money to spur investments works, maybe the government should consider a tax cut for them.
Short of that, Trumpians should keep their fingers off middle class money.
29
Something else will hit the House floor on Thursday and It stinks to high heaven.
14
As detailed in other articles, this bill also impairs funding to education, including PhD programs in the country. Thus this bill will limit the ability of the nation to develop intellectually, which is important because the 21st century is centered around such concepts. As demonstrated time and time again by Republicans politicians (not Republicans in general as everyone truly does vote for the people who they believe can help them. This was absolutely the case in the past election), these individuals who have vowed to serve citizens have once again lied to get elected and are now executing legislation that will benefit them and the rich while taking money away from the vulnerable, limiting education, preventing the sick from accessing healthcare, and for the average Joe to truly have access to the American dream. Thus these politicians are harming the very people who voted for them and who they vowed to serve. With this written out, it does sound pretty messed up, right?
13
The deficit and debt implications of this proposed legislation will economically hobble our children and grandchildren as we kick an increasingly unsustainable level of debt service down the road. Where is the outrage of today’s parents, grandparents and even those young people themselves?
18
You cannot get "outrage" from uninformed, under-informed and badly informed people. They are too occupied by tweets, sports and propaganda.
5
Grandparents are watching Fox News and are brainwashed. Have met many of them
6
Concerned MD: We are outraged plenty! At least those of us who still have brains not turned into moronic mush by FOX NEWS! We call our senators and representatives, write letters, sign petitions, go to meetings...and they steamroll over us anyway. The horrible, terrible, very bad GOP, and the horrible, terrible, very bad trump, will do whatever they want, and to hell with the rest of us. They are not public servants; they regard us as their servants, their peasants, their serfs...the EXPENDABLES. The feed off us as they deny us any human decency. They will impoverish 99% of us in the hopes that we will die. And when we do, the 99% of us...those richkins, like the trumps and their ilk, will have to start taking the money from each other. That will be fun, but too bad we will probably be dead, and not be able to see them tear the flesh from each other, instead of from us.
I'm trying to figure out what Republican members of Congress do besides call their biggest donors for more money and ask how much they'd like in return. Clearly, with eight years out of majority they did not use that time wisely, to regroup and design legislation for when back in majority. When Minority Leader McConnell said his job was to keep President Obama to one-term, apparently he meant do absolutely nothing about anything.
This tax bill, like previous attempts at legislation, was put together on the fly, like some mediocre student waiting until last minute to do a term paper. Youth is excused for procrastination; our elected representatives with perks beyond most people's dreams, not only procrastinate but avoid any and all rational thought. That's inexcusable.
This tax bill will fail not because tax reform is a bad idea but because they didn't use their time wisely, to craft a bill with many moving parts and get people on board. It now looks like fair is the least of their concerns and rewarding their donors is their only concern.
16
The problem is the unrealistic expectations of Republican donors to get "payback" for the money they have put into campaigns. Wouldn't a 500 million dollar tax cut for the rich have been enough? Wouldn't it be soon enough if they bankrupted the country with a tax cut for the rich in 40 years instead of 20? Isn't it enough for them if there is little enough left for the defense budget so that we will lose a war to China or Russia, do we also have to be made so weak and our sense of unity robbed so much as to probably lose a war with Canada? How much sacrifice do the rich expect from the middle class anyway?
8
Most taxes come from the better-off....and most tax cuts will of course go to the better-off. Yet, this feigned outrage just keeps coming around each and every time `Tax Cuts' are in the air.
Why bother following this kind of news.....it's the most rinse-repeat there is in the realm of economics and taxation. Never anything new from the pro-spending party. Reading a couple of dozen comments, not a one mentions the benefit of higher growth, which, to those who read Real News, are already here for 2 Quarters...ie, over 3.0%, a level Obama achieved just a handful of times in 8 years, with the aid of $10 Trillion of money printing.
At the height of the recession economists were saying it would take at least 10 years to recover. I would say what we are seeing is part of that recovery which probably had more Obama's doing, and the Fed, than anyone else's. Despite that fact the unemployment is low, incomes of those in the middle and lower class have remained stagnant, while the wealth of the upper class continues to increase. Corporations are already making record profits.They will only pass on tax savings to their shareholders and CEO's.
10
Spending us into more debt, means down the road the GOP can break entitlements, privatize social security and gut Medicare, since taking care of corporations and the wealthy are the only tax reform goal I have heard from the GOP these last 20 years. Just give it to the rich and corporations and my life will improve.
16
Most Americans will not understand the consequences of this tax proposal until it is too late. Crumbs for the peasants and cake for the well-to-do.
Corporations can currently take many deductions by reinvesting in employees and equipment that have already helped to spur the economy. Business owners who make well into the six digits have to pay taxes like anyone else making well into the six digits. The new plan would reduce corporate and business owner taxes sharply while those on a payroll may be paying more depending on their situation.
Are corporations only people when it comes to political donations and not when it comes to taxes?
10
A terrible bill for middle class taxpayers in blue states. HUGE tax increase on me, but the carried interest is still there so people who make 50 times my income can keep raking it in. Cue the revolution.
32
Permanent tax cuts for corporations and temporary tax cuts for the middle class that fizzle out after 5 years?
What a joke. And, like all of Trump's "jokes", not funny in the least.
23
"Tax specialists at multinational firms have spent the last several days struggling to calculate what their new effective tax rates would be under a change that most did not see coming." So now we are talking "effective tax rate" which is the actual tax rate paid after all the deductions. In reality, no one pays the "advertised" tax rate. Everyone pays an "effective tax rate" which is considerably lower. What we need is a progressive tax table - then we need to decide how much money we need to generate in taxes to accurately set up that progressive tax table - then we need to tax all income at the rate stated in the tax table. For instance we can have a tax table that taxes people who make 0-10,000 at 5%, 10,001-50,000 at 6%, 50,001 to 100,000 at 7%. No deductions, no exemptions. if you make 10,000 you pay $500 in taxes. All types of income would be included, payroll income, capital gains income, carried interest income etc. No ability to game the system at all. But then, we would have no need for accountants, tax attorneys etc.
7
Once again the House has decided to shut the Democrats out, as will the Senate. Apparently the GOP believes that they are the experts in tax reform and want all the 'glory' in creating a tax cut bill which will add significantly to the debt of the nation. Just as the GOP owns the multi-failed ACA repeal/replace efforts, they will now own the soon to be ill-fated tax cut bill. They don't get it. They actually think they can govern when they consistently create legislation that will do more harm to the majority of Americans than it will help. It is truly a spectacle to observe. I do not see the House and Senate GOP coming together to piece together a workable and positive tax plan for the majority of Americans. This plan does not look like experts put it together, only desperate people afraid of being 'fired' in November 2018.
7
Why should "pass throughs" allow the wealthy to pay less than the upper middle class? Why should inherited IRAs be taxed when the top .2% pay no tax on massive inherited estates? Why should wealthy companies pay a smaller tax on profits than many in the middle class pay on income? Instead of closing the carried interest loophole Trump's buddies in Congress are creating new loopholes for the richest in America.
12
I find many elements of this tax plan just shocking. Probably the most offensive element is the elimination of the ability to deduct high medical expenses. This from the party that is working daily to destroy the ACA and just issued revised Medicaid guidelines that will cause many beneficiaries to lose coverage. The lack of compassion and inability to comprehend lives other than their own is breath taking.
Then look at the plan to tax the tuition benefits received by graduate students who work as research or teaching assistants. How lovely to raise pennies off the backs of our best and brightest, closing the door to advanced university degrees to all those but the wealthiest.
Eliminating the adoption tax credit? How anti-family is that?!!
The distribution of the benefits and burdens of this tax proposal are horribly uneven and some families will be destroyed financially while others will face difficult choices. Honestly, I look at the current policies proposed by the party in power and I just can't fathom how an entire party can have a vision of a nation that is so dark and incomprehensible. An America based on these values is not my America.
20
Please, I beg you. Don't do this.
I left a career to pursue my dream to go back to school and earn a PhD. If this passes, my tuition waiver becomes taxable income and I am suddenly responsible for federal taxes of more than half of my stipend.
I won't be able to afford to finish my degree.
This is cruel.
24
This is stupid. But we are talking Republican politics.
Back in the day, there was some movement to make waivers taxable. I nearly dropped out of my Ph.D. program over the affordability issue. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.
4
Why aren't your stories saying anything about the proposed elimination of the alternative minimum tax? Isn't this one of the biggest giveaways to the Trump family?
14
The Trump "family" will really benefit from the elimination of the estate tax. Lots more safari's for junior.
4
If either Republican reps, Issa or McCarthy are re-elected in 2018 the answer must be gerrymandering at a huge scale. California voters get your anger on. Dump these crooks.
24
California's congressional districts are drawn up by a citizen commission, not by the Legislature, so it's not gerrymandered. Issa's district is more conservative than most of the state but has demographically shifted in a more Democratic direction. He faces a strong candidate in 2018 and should be defeated if the Democrats can manage to stop infighting and run a coherent campaign nationwide.
1
No one seems to be able to produce any coherent charts or tools that would really nail it, but I think everyone in blue and purple states pays more and everyone in red states pays less. Any social problems caused by shrinking state government and services below reasonable levels will likely be paid for by the federal government, which seems to already transfer money from blue to red.
I am not even sure Andy Harris can survive his Maryland Eastern Shore constituents realizing they are taking a bit tax hit with the supposed tax reduction bill. That list of angry Blue Staters better include MD. the state with the largest % of people deducting SALT and probably real estate taxes above $500K or whatever that is.
McMansion price crashes also will get people going. How many defaults will we see when McMansions stop selling and people are already underwater and straining to make payments. In some state McMansion at $500K is a roof over your head and house that could be 50 years old and need substantial work.
And if you think employers are going to get more generous or hire once they get their tax cut ... wow, are you naive? Generous and employer ?
2
When you cut taxes you necessarily have to cut services (Medicare, Medicaid
Social Security, infrastructure, funding of education, national parks, etc.) People in the lower income brackets benefit most from these public services. When you consider whether a tax cut is real for the average citizen, you also have to include the cost of the reduction in services that will result in order to determine whether it is really a tax cut or a tax increase.
63
No, you're missing the genius of Republican tax policy. The policy is to cut taxes and NOT cut spending. The difference is just added to the national debt.
It makes all the sense in the world if you're an intellectually and ethically bankrupt Republican member of Congress: all the political upside of reducing taxes, none of the downside of cutting popular spending programs.
8
For example, the Park Service proposes to raise Rocky Mountain National Park entrance fees to $70 (or something close to that.) That is a tax increase on park users, pure and simple. Worse, the revenue generated won't come close to solving the maintenance backlog, so the quality of the experience will decline while its cost rises. I spend a lot of time in Rocky, on my lifetime Senior Pass, and happily share its beauty with families from across the country. It will be a shame to see those visitors decline due to Republican tax policy.
1
And when the debt grows the cuts will come later...they will tell us “we have to”
That is the risk...party today, pay tomorrow
1
Defeat this plan! I am outraged! This bill is outright robbery and will sent this country into a debt spiral.
55
"My donors are basically saying, 'Get it done or don't ever call me again,' " Collins replied.
He should tell them to "stuff it" then go out and explain to the public… his constituency, and all the rest, that he did the right thing for them… then get on social media and spread that word… let them know the pressures the moneyed few are putting on him, and other pols, to do their bidding… show just how crooked and corrupt this budget (and most of Trump's 'wants' are).
If politicians need the public's vote… go to the public…name the names, the organizations that are pressuring him, let everyone know what they're doing and how they're doing it.
Then, once again make obvious the fact that he is on the side of the voting public, not the coddled, precious few. This is a good time and place to start getting it done…
The only way the people will lose is if, as Trump said, "it's 'rigged." He was right… it was "rigged'… in his favor. We ended up with a lying, incompetent, impotent leader.
There will be a war within between the 'money' and the 'people' this time… the people have the votes… they just have to use them. VOTE.
93
Tax cuts and stimulus to the economy make sense when the economy is in the doldrums, not when it is actively expanding and there is low unemployment.
Republicans are just making US debt so much larger. The idea that they care about federal debt is just a lot of nonsense. This country should be raising taxes now to pay down American debt while the economy is firing on all cylinders.
This country is being led by imbeciles.
291
That is fake economics. Real success comes from taking on as much debt as possible, paying little or no taxes, stiffing your workers and bragging 24/7.
(Oh, and declaring bankruptcy)
DJT
6
They don't fight debt and big government. They fight debt and big government *that's not their own*. Big difference.
The Rules of the GOP:
(1) IOKIYAR.
(2) Bash the Democrats for what they do and the costs they add.
(3) If caught doing something preached against in (2), optionally briefly Spend More Time With The Family, then go to (1).
1
"Tax cuts and stimulus to the economy make sense when the economy is in the doldrums, not when it is actively expanding and there is low unemployment"
Try telling that to the 10000s of journalists who have been laid off in the last five years, who have lost their retirements. And 40,000,000+ on food stamps, 15,000,000+ under-employed, with $20,000,000,000,000 taxpayer debt.
It would be an ugly conversation, pal.
3
The Corporation and billionaire tax cuts engineered by Appleby didn’t result in more or better paying US jobs. The GOP tax cuts will be no different.
38
If the GOP dares to repeal the individual mandate in their bill, the Senate parliamentarian should insist that the bill go through the usual legislative channels, and thus require 60 Senate votes. The individual mandate is critical to insurance markets and ensuring near universal health coverage; repealing it is not simply a matter of revenue.
27
"American multinational corporations are especially concerned about the proposal, which would raise just over $150 billion over a decade."
Are US multinationals faring that poorly that a total of $15 billion/year of taxes for ALL multinationals would set them back? Maybe we should set up a Gofundme account for them to help them out if congress passes the tax reform?
18
What many of these articles do not address is the fact that the Republicans are attempting to equate a loss of personal exemptions (a $4,050/person deduction) with an increase in the child tax credit (proposal increases credit by $600). This is only true for those in the 15% bracket, but the real issue is that the child tax credit ends when a child reaches 17, but a personal exemption can last as long as you are supporting your child (think college years). So, the middle class loses the personal exemption deductions immediately, followed by losing the child tax credit as each child reaches age 17. Nothing like a huge tax increase the year before you send your child off to an over-priced college. Gotta love this baby-boomer generation! Leaving future generations worse off, the opposite of what their parents did.
40
"Gotta love this baby-boomer generation! "
You are shooting at the wrong enemy.
It Republican voters of every generation who are doing this to you.
Remember that the Republican tax plan also cuts Medicare and Medicaid care for homebound Seniors, who are the parents the sandwiched boomers are caring for and soon to be the boomers themselves
The Democrats are fighting it out in the House, but they are being shut down so far. Little debate and no amendments allowed. They really need to get the word out about what this tax dodge really is, cuts, mainly for the rich, with reform for the middle class and poor. I hear a whole lot of whining about 2016, but not much in the way of messaging for the common man. Get on it!
18
This article makes it abundantly clear, if it wasn't already, that the only people the Republicans listen to are corporations and the wealthiest people in America. Ordinary Americans can't lobby them, we can't buy ad time to pressure them, they ignore calls to their offices from the average citizen and they couldn't care less what the Democrats have to say even though they represent an equal, if not greater, amount of voters. I don't expect a perfect form of representation but, when Republicans run the show, I feel as under represented as a resident of Puerto Rico or Washington DC.
39
Here is where the imbalance is:
The GOP seems to know PRECISELY what Wall Street wants and needs. They seem to know PRECISELY what Big Business needs.
They presume to know what an average working class family needs. But, what they have proven that they know NOTHING about:
1. The plight of real middle class families...those who work and pay for daycare and plan, who are not surprised by unexpected bills...but are surprised by unexpected changes in tax code.
2. The plight of small business owners.
3. The plight of workers who have been pushed out of "jobs" by big business and are now "gig-workers"...who are essentially "consultants"...exempted from tax protections.
4. The plight of mid-lifer's who have planned for YEARS/DECADES to provide for their needs as they age, only to have the healthcare exemptions yanked from under them.
5. The plight of elderly who have scrimped and saved to buy into senior care facilities, based on tax advantage of healthcare exemptions, which the GOP will yank.
The thing is...they have just disclosed the fact that they just don't know us...they don't know who we are...and they really don't care...because they, and they Sugar Daddies, are addicted and simply can't take their eyes off the next fix...they NEED to take money from us...they NEED more...it is an addiction.
So, here's my question: How does Wayne LaPierre do? I bet they checked with him...
20
Why is anyone surprised that the Republicans drafted a complex tax bill in secret - without any public hearings or input from their Democratic colleagues?
Why is anyone surprised that this tax bill will blow up the deficit by trillions more, when the Republicans say the deficit should be reduced?
Why is anyone surprised that the tax bill is full of lots of tax cuts for the wealthy with crumbs or increases for poor and middle class?
If you "follow the money" you will understand that the Republicans are hypocrites who have sold out to the wealthy while lying with a straight face to the American public.
Just watch - after this passes, Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will pursue his long term goal of cutting Medicare by turning it into a vocuher (read coupons) system for the elderly. And raise the retirement age for Social Security. His logic? The federal deficit is too high and the middle class and poor need to suffer to reduce this deficit; yes, the same one he and his cronies increased by about $3 trillion dollars.
We must vote these dangerous yahoos out of office!
57
$6,500
That is the amount each and every taxpayer (230 million) will BORROW under the current unfunded cost of this bill.
GOP: Give $6500 x 230.000.000 = $ 1,500,000,000 to corporations.
All Americans should be outraged!
134
6500 x 230,000,000 = 1,495.000,000,000
You are missing some zeros.
America is having second thoughts about the Republican rewrite of the American Dream.
43
You mean The Nightmare on Main Street?
What happens to a nation that has no desire to help anyone less fortunate, where greed is the single biggest driving factor, and which is led by the most ignorant, selfish, greedy and mean people in that society? Doesn't sound like a recipe for a great nation to me. Past generations sacrificed for future generations with roads, schools, etc. it appears that this generation of conservative leaders actually hate everything that made the UNITED States of America great. United we stand, divided we fall, is not just some empty slogan. It is the truth.
107
This is what it looks like when a political party has both branches of Congress and the Presidency, but is a ship with a flimsy or non-existent rudder. Trying to pass poorly designed and thought out legislation for the sake of passing something is not an accomplishment, but an abomination.
83
Rudder? They don't even have a keel!
2
The con job continues. This is hilarious. Yet the Trump voter will sop it up to get 100 bucks a month, while the top 1% reaps in millions.
141
And that 100 bucks a month will be eaten up by the loss of medical coverage and food subsidies and increased state and local taxes and user fees that will be required as federal programs are cut. Wake up America!
7
Another gigantic wealth transfer to the rich. Stealing from tomorrow to sate their greed today. When is it ever enough? Answer: the wealthy don't have needs like common people, so why should they contribute to those needs? Put a mote around all our properties, and up goes the draw bridge!
And now for Act II in the Ryan/McConell playbook: cuts to Medicare and social security - look, it's bankrupting our country! Do we want to end up like Greece?
49
Republicans are tone-deaf to feedback on healthcare, gun control and voting rights, to name just a few. Why should they act any differently on taxes?
41
I would like to know how those on the committee benefit; Who gets what in donor money or who benefits from the changes? I believe in following the money. Whom does the payola benefit? As it is, how much does this save the president if one is pandering to him? There must be a reasonable reason to run a deficit, not just a political benefit.
13
This bill is class warfare
Business owners and investors are taxed at lower rates than salaried workers
There is no justification for taxing the wealthiest at lower rates than workers.
154
What comes out of Washington that ISN'T class warfare?
5
Does the plan do anything to curb the tax evasion by the wealthy and corporations unveiled by the Paradise Papers and the earlier Panama Papers? Think about how much they could cut taxes for the middle class if they ended the offshore loopholes. But I suspect they are more interested in the campaign contributions they get from these "America last" tax evaders than they are in true tax reform.
70
They are trying to get rid of the Consumer financial Protection Bureau! The bureau that fights against offshore tax evasion.
2
Yes, according to the article:
"That may be an uphill battle, as key groups begin coming out in opposition to parts of the bill, including a proposed excise tax of 20 percent on payments made by American companies to foreign affiliates. The provision is aimed at preventing American companies from shifting profits abroad through payments, such as royalties, made to subsidiaries or other foreign affiliates."
A video of Democratic Cong. and House Ways and Means Committee member John Larson of CT is going viral,
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/this-is-theater-rep-john-larson-absolut...
in part because it succinctly lays out the sheer ruthlessness of this tax bill - being manhandled through Congress using the same tactics that wound up killing two different and equally vicious versions of the Republicans Obamacare "replacement."
Written in secret by a very small number of GOP leaders and lobbyists.
Even GOP members don't know what they are voting for.
Not a single public hearing and no public expert witness testimony and questioning.
Rushed through in days rather than months like past tax measures.
No amendments
And repeated use of outright lies and half truths to try and convince the public it is good for them - including insistence that the Laffer Curve nonsense of trickle down prosperity from massive tax cuts will cover us all with pixie dust (see Brownback/KS) and attempts to replace the CBO with something called "dynamic scoring" (substituting math and science for 'trust us on this.')
Noted tax and economic policy expert Sara Huckabee Sanders claimed cutting the corporate tax RATE would mean "an average" $4,000 for middle-class tax payers (ignoring the fact that RATE is not what many corporations - currently awash in offshore cash stashes - actually pay.)
Let us hope the final outcome is the same!!!
22
I live in NY City. By New York City standards, I am middle class, but my income would be considered much higher if I lived in, say, Arkansas.
But I live HERE--- I pay huge property taxes, state, and city taxes. The cost of living is very high here and I work seven days a week to keep up.
If this tax plan goes through I will probably have to leave the state. But my WORK is here and everything that I built up in my career is here. I also grew up here and yet I would be forced to leave!!!!
The "tax plan" of the Republicans is aimed squarely at Urban centers and blue states.
For me this is extremely frightening because I am also in my sixties.
53
You grew up in NY and you're resentful you have to leave? Well I grew up in Chicago and I'm moving to Mexico because I refuse to be old and poor in a country to which I paid taxes all my life, where I worked hard and contributed to my society. And all I'm getting is the middle finger.
Perhaps we all will have to move to the over-represented moocher red states for a few years to vote the Republicans out of office.
According to my math, my fed taxes as a graduate student with a tuition waiver will increase from $2,700 to $6,600. And if I decide to take loans to make up the difference, I would no longer be able to deduct loan interest payments. There is already a growing interest among my peers in abandoning academics for industry and I'm sure this would only accelerate the trend, especially since corporations will have all of the money!
44
Do you have any sense how much taxpayers - often with no advanced education themselves - have subsidized your trek through post-graduate studies already?
I, for one, am more than happy to have a portion of my taxes go to someone pursuing a post-graduate degree, which is difficult to impossible to get on your own without having millionaires for parents, than to lower taxes for people who don't need them lowered, or to eliminate the estate tax.
The graduate student will pay this back many times over in their own lifetime taxes and contributions to society. The millionaire will just sock it away and probably won't even notice it.
3
Do you have any idea how much university research contributes to the welfare of the US? The Rad Lab was responsible for much highly valued research. When you denigrate great university systems, you denigrate all that we have built and contributed to for generations. Those with no advanced education benefit from advanced economies; their children benefit from education made available through scholarships, loans and subsidies; and, they will move up in the world. There was a time before the Great Depression when only the wealthy could afford a higher education. That time has passed. We are now competing in a global economy resting on advanced education and policies; why would you want us to be third rate in this new world? I am retired and still pay taxes; that is fine with me as a member of a broad society with benefits for those who need those benefits. If you don't like taxes, there are many countries you might like with no taxes or benefits. We are part of a Social Contract which sustains our economy and our place in the world.
1
Carried Interest windfall to hedge fund and other wealth managers needs to corrected. Their investment management services, some of which are trading around briefly-held stocks, are treated as if they are capital investment-- not work subject to higher income taxes. If not resolved in this big tax reform, Carried Interest should be targeted in other legislation-- this scam should not escape reform. It continues to do so because the hedge fund guys buy off all politicians.
13
My taxes will go up by $5,100 if this plan passes because they are eliminating the deduction for alimony. I got divorced a couple of years ago and agreed to pay alimony for some years. This year, I will pay around $28,000 in alimony, which my ex-wife . I was counting on that reducing my tax liability. If this passes, it won't. I will owe an additional $5,100 in taxes for that income, which is money I don't have because I paid it all out in alimony to my ex-wife. I'm a middle class wage earner with no assets or investments. Now I have until April to save up $5,100 to pay my new tax bill. Thanks, Republicans.
21
there's a deduction for alimony??!!
I am not in any way a supporter of this bill, but do think arguments should be fact based. The alimony provisions are for agreements entered into or altered after 2017. Taxation of existing agreements will not be changed - although the tax rates would have some impact.
2
Sorry, didn't finish this sentence: This year, I will pay around $28,000 in alimony, which my ex-wife will pay taxes on because it's income to her.
"But other groups continued to praise the bill, even as they worked behind the scenes to shape it more to their liking."
There you have the mendacity of American business in a nutshell. Ultimately, business leaders know they'll benefit from tax "reform," so they publicly support it while privately finagling changes that benefit their own particular interests.
Too bad individual taxpayers don't have a group looking out for their best interests. You know, a group of politicians whose mandate is to protect and support average Americans. Who were elected by these folks to do that very thing.
Oh wait. That would be Congress, right?
63
It used to be called REPRESENTATIVE democracy.
9
62% of bankruptcies are the result of medical expenses and yet the medical deduction is wiped off the list of deductible expenses? Add in the continuing assault on the individual mandate and you really have to question the humanity of the people behind those closed doors. More and more it seems the message is "If you are sick or poor or both, just hurry up and die"!
The excise tax on university endowments is laughable on its face. I'm not saying it shouldn't be taxed its just that the Feds aren't entitled to the money. If there is a tax, it should go to the communities that host and provide services to the tax free colleges and universities that sprawl through their towns. Payment in lieu of taxes is a drop in the bucket in most settings.
If this is Paul Ryan's swan song he's got a chorus of quacks to take him to the exit.
26
Let's see, a tax cut written by legislators from states that cannot balance their own budgets without subsidies from blue state taxpayers. What could possibly go wrong?
150
“Republicans on the committee did approve a package of changes to the tax bill on Monday, moving to tighten restrictions on so-called carried interest, and alter rules aimed at preventing American companies from stashing profits offshore.”
And all the democrats voted against these 2 amendments?? What does that say about the Dems, other than they are obstructing the very things they’ve been screaming about for the past year?? The Democratic Party is not interested in helping the middle class, as shown by their unwillingness to support tax changes that they asked for in years past. They just want to regain power in Washington. And if this tax law is finally enacted and the economy continues to soar under Trump, they will remain in the dark.
1
Listen Doc.
You would be correct were this a middle class tax cut. But it isn't. It's a massive giveaway to the wealthy and corporations, with crumbs thrown to some middle class families, whose children and grandchildren will be on the hook to pay back the 1.5 TRILLION budget deficit!
12
Maybe the Democrats realize that we have an unsustainable annual deficit and growing national debt - something that Republicans complained about regularly until 2017 - and reached the adult conclusion that it would be imprudent to cut taxes and should instead focus on other things that could improve the competitiveness of the country such as addressing the cost of health care and others?
1
This is simple? Sounds like lots of clauses just changing things to benefit the wealthy and other clauses to minimize gains to the middle class. We wanted Santa clause and got Wolf claws (in rather bedraggled sheep's clothing). If this is simplifying I hate to see what complexities would be.
5
One of the biggest problems of this sweeping tax bill is the failure to allow it to go through "regular order," as Sen. McCain would put it. The idea that a major and transformational act such as this could be adopted without significant hearings or even opportunities for amendment is preposterous, and the antithesis of proper legislative process in both houses of Congress.
It is truly no more than the "ramming and jamming down" of a bill simply because the Republican leadership thinks it can do that. Any Senator or Congressperson who ignores the proper and appropriate debate and determinative aspects in trying to pass this bill is shirking his or her responsibility as a legislator. This is not how major bills should be enacted into law. That was never the intention of the founders of our nation.
114
Let alone all the language about "unborn child in-utero, a member of the species homo sapiens" being eligible for the 529 plan.
I didn't see any special language for ectopic pregnancies or whether the law is still applicable if the embryo happened to be still in-vitro (still in a petri-dish) on Dec 31, but to be implanted soon after. Also, if the embryo is gene edited would it still qualify for "homo sapiens", and if so upto how many gene sequences can be altered.
8
McCain will vote for it.
When Reagan was developing his tax plan his Budget Director David Stockman famously described the 'Hogs Feeding At The Trough'.
Well they haven't been fed since GW Bush so they are really hungry/greedy.
GOP is breaking out the feed sacks (and the budget) to the tune of 1.5 TRILLION, which middle class kids and grandchildren will have to pay back in spades.
15
Thank goodness! This is Not a conservative tax reform. It's a give away to the super rich. Where are the conservative Republicans these days??
17
Trump discussed the repeal of the estate tax with Ivanka and they both agreed it is essential to save the republic.
44
This is not tax reform
This is the greatest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the wealthy the world has ever seen
For my household this is a tax increase with no benefit and no improvements
Salaried workers are being laid off by the thousands as corporations increase executive pay on our backs
Shame on anyone in congress that votes for this bill
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The disappearance of the medical deduction is cruelty pure and simple. Just think for a moment about who currently benefits from that deduction - the sickest people, the oldest most helpless people. People who are trapped in their current situation and cannot move to a disease with a lower tax rate. People whose unreimbursed spending on health care approaches or exceeds their taxable income. The elderly who grew up when nearly every able-bodied young man was a war veteran in the making. Who needs the help more than these people? And what kind of person, or country, takes it away?
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Something to remember is that the itemized medical deduction was also cut back as a revenue raiser for the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a "Obamacare") Under the law prior to the ACA, you could itemize qualified medical deductions if they were over 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. The ACA limited the medical deduction to only allowing itemized deductions for qualified medical expenses over 10 percent of adjusted gross income -- which meant a lot of people were no longer eligible to itemize medical deductions. Recognizing that older people had higher medical expenses, this change didn't apply to people over age 65 until 2016. Not saying whether I agree with eliminating the itemized deduction., But to answer EJB's question about the kind of people that take away this deduction -- well it's both Republicans and Democrats; they take away that deduction when it suits their policy aims.
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I know it's a rhetorical question. But the level at which the country is reading, I think it requires an answer to go along with it -- Republicans.. that's who.
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The casualty loss deduction is also important for the (relatively) few people who use it. This gives some relief for catastrophic, uninsured losses, such as fires and floods.
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