It will be the largest overhaul of the U.S. tax system since the 1980s if it passes. And it is being sold with lies, starting with its name, “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”
To See President Biden's 5 Best Jokes At The White House Correspondents Dinner visit The Daily.
It’s no accident that the 429-page House Republican tax bill specifically takes aim at Democrats and areas that didn’t vote for Trump. Petty, petulant and punitive is how this Republican Party rolls. But the next time someone claims Obama divided this country, just ask them about this.
Since when it is okay for a major political party to use the tax code to punish the opposition? “A number of provisions would hit taxpayers in Democratic-leaning states hardest, like rolling back deductions for state and local taxes and cutting in half the popular mortgage interest deduction,” David Morgan and Amanda Becker reported for Reuters Thursday.
The GOP bill gets rid of the SALT deduction. “Big wealthy urban counties have large SALT deductions on average,” Business Insider points out. States that will be hardest hit are California – you know the state Donald Trump lost by 2 million votes and the entire GOP demonizes as red meat for their base, New York, and New Jersey.
The lies surrounding this turd are simply egregious beyond measure, Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed Thursday during the White House briefing that these tax cuts are for working families, but that is an outright lie.
The main thrust of the bill is it slashes the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent. It benefits the rich through lowered corporate taxes and getting rid of the estate tax and alternative minimum tax. Working class families have little interest in paying for getting rid of the estate taxes.
The National Association of Home Builders is not impressed. It also noted that it would punish homeowners in urban areas, according to reporting by Reuters.
“We’re concerned if enacted, this bill will throw us back into another housing recession,” Jerry Howard, the group’s president, said in an interview.
The NAHB slammed the bill for coming after high-cost regions like Washington, D.C., New York City, California, and Hawaii, where they say the impact would be felt the most. Again, these are places that vote Democratic. Other impacts such as capping the deduction for state and local property taxes at $10,000.00 take aim at states that tend to vote Democratic as well, like California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, although Pennsylvania went for Trump – just barely. But it is seen as a blue state.
Additionally, the small business lobby of the National Federation of Independent Business is against the bill.
It technically cuts tax rates on individuals and families, but many of those could well be offset by forcing working families to absorb the costs of cutting taxes for the wealthy. but it also ends tax breaks for companies and individuals.
“This is a very important and special moment for our country, for all Americans. Are we going to let the defenders of the status quo win and see our country continue down this downward spiral?” Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan asked, which Reuters pointed out was “despite data showing about eight straight years of economic growth.”
This is not a “special” moment for our country; this is a screwing of the working class, being sold as a jobs bill.
As Reuters pointed out, we have had eight straight years of economic growth, no one needs Republicans to “fix” anything by making a huge overhaul that will impact the economy. What would be best for our nation is if Republicans left their mitts off of the economy altogether. It is not their strong suit.
It’s too soon after the Bush Recession to sell trickle down lies again. For these “leaders” to stand before the American people and lie about something that will potentially harm the voters is astonishingly egregious, even for this administration.
To come after Democratic cities as punishment is no accident. It’s time for Democrats to stop being so careful and tepid in their language. Republicans just declared war on Democratic cities, small businesses, and even the NAHB.
And they named their war the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”
Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Connect with Sarah on Post, Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.
