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As many reliable economists predicted, the Republican 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act did not deliver as the taxcutters promised and bragged about. Instead of the promised $4,000 more in your paycheck, the average worker bonus in 2018 was just 0.01% higher than in 2017. When corporate tax rate were slashed from 35% to 21%, it should not be a surprise that the corps did not invest but instead tax cuts went to dividends and share buy backs. Many corporations are paying zero taxes. A budget researcher with EPI wrote that "TCJA is set to exacerbate decades of rising economic inequality" because "the bill blew apart the individual and corporate tax codes with egregious new loopholes tailor made for the rich and the corporations." Why do we hear from Republicans that benefits from cutting taxes on high earners will result in "trickle-down benefit to lower earners, definitely debunked by experience, but never hear that cutting taxes to lower earners allows them to buy stuff that will benefit the companies owned and operated by high earners?
I'm still shaking my head over a recent letter to Timberjay print edition, It's "Either Trump or Socialism". I just wonder what the writer thinks Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are and if the writer is a senior citizen happy to have SS and Medicare. I'll take a wild guess and say writer probably believes SS/Medicare isn't socialism for the writer and like minded people but are undeserved handouts to those "other" irresponsible sorts.
Out of all the benefits Betty listed as differences between R and D parties, Social Security and Medicare are among the most important. and most popular with working Americans. All one has to do is check out the vast difference between Republican and Democratic SS/Medicare bills over the decades. R's always want to cut benefits and raise eligibility ages to "save" the programs. Who believes that baloney anymore? I remember when Pres George W Bush had townhalls around the country during his terms exhorting his plan "privatizing" Social Security which was a dud. The senior citizens who attended were not impressed.
Other groups such as Business Roundtable, Pete Peterson think tank and other think tanks that are run by vastly wealthy ceo's and individuals have been so concerned about Social Security and Medicare that they have diligently advocated and worked to raise eligibility ages and cut benefits. Sorry, I don't buy into that supposed altruism nor that they are concerned about recipients well-being. Wealthy business types, investors, etc. have long coveted getting their hands on Social Security trust fund. As Betty has pointed out, Medicare Advantage type plans are lucrative for the purveyors.
We're all going to be paying taxes. I want my taxes to take care of infrastructure, community needs, education, health care, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc, etc and I want that for our children and grandchildren instead of giving vast tax cuts to the top few multi-millionaires, billionaires and huge corporations. They don't need it, we and our country do.
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