Merry Christmas from the GOP! The Republican Party just wrapped a great big bow on the number one gift on every conservative’s wish list. Tax cuts! A massive tax cut that will stimulate economic growth, create jobs and increase wages. The gift that keeps on giving. A huge gift to the middle class and working poor.
At least that is what Republican leadership is telling their caucus.
Desperate to score a legislative win before the mid-term elections season; Republicans steamrolled through one of the largest transfers of wealth in the history of the country. So anxious were Republicans to get a “win” that 51 senators passed the massive bill without even reading it. That’s right…most of these guys voted for the bill without having read it. Republican leadership cobbled together the bill behind closed doors and rushed it to a floor vote. No hearings. No debates. Slam bam thank you ma’am.
As with all things in politics…the devil is in the details.
According to every independent economic analysis; many Americans will in fact benefit from these tax cuts. Unfortunaly it won’t be the middle class and working poor. According to these reports over 60% of the benefits provided under this bill will go to major corporations and the top 1% wage earners. Middle class Americans and the working poor will actually see their taxes increase over the next ten years.
Due to changes in the health care system included in this bill, most Americans will see their insurance premiums increase by 10% next year with premiums more than doubling over the next ten years. The CBO estimates that the increased premiums will force 13 million people off the insurance rolls. These individuals will head to the emergency rooms for their medical needs. The resulting increased costs being passed on to premium paying customers in the form of increased rates and higher deductible..
Finally, these independent reports show that the bill will increase the country’s long term debt between 1-1.4 trillion dollars. That blows a huge whole in the GOP’s supposedly bedrock principles of fiscal conservatism.
So why would the GOP pass such a horrendous piece of legislation? Simple. In 2016 Republican candidates promised their supporters that if elected they would pass tax reform based on the theory of trickle down economics. Reduce the corporate tax rate and taxes on the wealthiest Americans and the wealthy will use that tax money for corporate investment and increased wage.
Big money bundlers filled the Republican coffers and Republicans won control of the White House, Congress, the Supreme Court and 75% of the state legislatures. Now these same big money donors were looking for a return on their investment. If Republicans didn’t produce as promised there would be hell to pay come the 2018 mid-terms. So the details of the tax bill didn’t matter as long as it contained the promised tax cuts for the top 1%.
Republican leadership is selling this as a major middle class tax cut. That is a lie. Republican leadership is telling us that giving tax relief to the rich will trickle down and benefit the middle class and the poor. That’s too is a lie.
Consider this…
Major corporations are making record profits. The stock market is producing record high results. Where are all those profits going? Where are the new jobs? Where are the higher wages?
Why does anyone think that giving the rich tax relief they don’t need will produce a different result?
The truth of the matter is that this tax reform bill is a boondoggle for the very rich and a lump of coal for the middle class. A bill designed to do nothing more than keep Republican coffers full and their elected positions secure.
We should not be surprised. After all this is the party that in two weeks will hand a senate seat to an accused pedophile and rapist.
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