6/22/18
Six months after President Trump and Republicans in Congress jammed through massive tax cuts mostly for corporations and the wealthy, it has become clear that working families are suffering while billionaire GOP campaign contributors luxuriate in a tax windfall. While stumping for his tax plan, President Trump claimed cutting taxes for big corporations would result in an average pay raise of $4,000 for working families. Well, the tax bill slashed the corporate tax rate by more than 40 percent and handed multinational corporations a $400 billion tax discount on their accumulated offshore profits, but what was the result? Working people are still waiting for their $4,000 raise. Average hourly wages have actually gone down slightly, after adjusting for inflation, since the tax bill passed. So where did all the money go? Corporations are not reinvesting their tax windfall; they are paying that money out in the form of stock buybacks and dividends. Stock buybacks boost stock prices and CEO pay in the short term, making the rich even richer, but most financial analysts say that money could be put to better use investing in the long-term success of the company.
The total cost of the GOP tax boondoggle is $1.9 trillion to $2.3 trillion. Right on cue, Republicans are now trying to push through drastic cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and public education to make up for the lost tax revenue. Finally, by weakening a central part of ObamaCare to pay for tax cuts for the rich, the Republican tax law will raise health insurance premiums for working families and cause 3 million people to lose health coverage in the next year. Finally, by weakening a central part of ObamaCare to pay for tax cuts for the rich, the Republican tax law will raise health insurance premiums for working families and cause 3 million people to lose health coverage in the next year. Congress should use the money saved from fixing this terrible tax law to invest in America. The U.S. needs to invest trillions of dollars in our infrastructure to be competitive in the 21st century. Senate Democrats have proposed a good start on what we need to do — $1 trillion for rebuilding and improving our country’s roads, bridges, schools, waterworks, rail systems, electrical grid and more, creating millions of good-paying jobs all along the way. All this could be paid for by repealing the GOP's huge, pointless, job-killing tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy.
