It’s that time of year to reflect and be thankful for the important things in our lives. This year, the most grateful people appear to be the wealthy and CEOs since both House GOP and Senate GOP tax plans would give them an enormous windfall. The House just passed its tax plan that gives big tax cuts to the rich.
Corporate tax would be slashed from 35 percent to 20 percent under both plans. This costs $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Offshore tax dodgers would get a $530 billion tax cut. American corporations have stashed $2.6 trillion in profits offshore on which they owe $750 billion in taxes. The House tax plan would tax them only at 12 percent.
The estate tax would be eliminated. Heirs and heiresses would avoid having to pay taxes on large inheritances as the tax plan would double the estate tax exemption. Under the House plan, the estate tax would be repealed in six years, saving the wealthy $170 billion. The Senate plan keeps the estate tax but raises the threshold so that the rich won’t have to pay tax on the first $11 million of inheritance per individual or $22 million per married couple.
The top tax rate would be cut under the Senate plan, and the rich would get a tax cut from 39.6 percent to 38.5 percent. The House plan would reduce the tax brackets from seven to four, but this change would cost $1 trillion over the next decade as people making roughly $500,000 to $1 million would pay less.
Wealthy businesses owners, including Donald Trump, would get a $448 billion tax cut for their so-called “pass-through” businesses. Their special tax rate would drop from 39.6 percent to 25 percent in the House plan or 32 percent under the Senate proposal.
In both the House and Senate bills, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which ensures the rich pay their fair share, would be eliminated, costing the country $700 billion. Interestingly, without the AMT, Trump in 2005 would have paid just a 4 percent tax rate on his $153 million in taxable income. Thanks to the AMT, his tax rate was 25 percent.
These tax cuts for the rich and CEOs would be paid for by deep reductions in spending for Medicare, Medicaid, public education, health care, research, environmental protection, Social Security, housing, job training, and social services. Also, the tax cuts would add roughly $1.7 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.
White House economic adviser Gary Cohn said in a recent interview, “the most excited group out there are big CEOs, about our tax plan.”
The Senate GOP plan is even more outrageous. To free up money for tax cuts, it includes a measure to repeal the Obamacare requirement that individuals have health coverage. This would lead to higher premiums for everyone and would increase the number of the uninsured. The Senate plan would also end key tax cuts for the middle-class starting in 2026, but make the corporate tax cut from 35 percent to 20 percent permanent. They’re promoting trickle-down economics, which has been debunked by numerous economists including the International Monetary Fund. Enriching the wealthy and corporations does NOT lead to job creation. Even the CEOs confirmed it.
It’s outrageous that politicians are slashing agency budgets, and other essential programs such as Medicare and Medicaid so their campaign donors and corporate cronies can get even richer.
We can’t let this happen! Visit www.afge.org/win to join in the fight.
AFGE has scored a pair of victories in legal challenges over the Trump administration’s policy requiring federal job applicants to pledge their loyalty to the administration and attempts by DHS to dismantle FEMA by illegally slashing half of the agency’s workforce.
Read More
Months of advocacy by AFGE and other veterans allies paid off last week when lawmakers achieved enough signatures to compel a vote in the U.S. House on legislation to ensure veterans receive all of the compensation they are owed for their military service.
Read More
Members of Congress are joining AFGE and other national teachers unions in calling on the Trump administration to stop its unlawful dismantling of the Education Department.
Read More
