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Reviewing the Republicans' Tax Cut Scam [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2025-02-02

Just a reminder: The Republicans 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was nothing more than an elaborate scam to enrich the wealthiest among us.

As Republicans move to extend the law’s personal and estate tax provisions set to expire at the end of this year (the corporate tax cuts were made permanent), while also cutting programs that help the poor and working class in order to help pay for them, now would be a good time to take a fresh look at the cornerstone of the GOP’s efforts to increase the wealth of the rich at the cost of the poor and middle class.

Spoiler alert: Unless you’re really rich it’s not good.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank, released a report last June titled, “The 2017 Trump Tax Law Was Skewed to the Rich, Expensive, and Failed to Deliver on Its Promises.”

The report concludes the tax act was:

*Skewed to the rich

*Was expensive and eroded the U.S. revenue base

*Failed to deliver promised economic benefits

The GOP worked its ass off to help its rich and corporate donors. Here are some examples from the report of provisions in the law that primarily benefitted the richest among us:

*Large, permanent corporate tax cuts. The centerpiece of the law was a deep, permanent cut in the corporate tax rate -- from 35 percent to 21 percent -- and a shift toward a territorial tax system, which exempts certain foreign income of multinational corporations from tax.

*20 percent deduction for pass-through income. The law adopted a new 20 percent deduction for certain income that owners of pass-through businesses (partnerships, S corporations, and sole proprietorships) report on their individual tax returns, which previously was generally taxed at the same rates as wage and salary income.

*Cutting individual income tax rates for those at the top and weakening the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The law cut the top individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 37 percent for married couples with over $600,000 in taxable income (and often even higher gross income). The law also dramatically weakened the AMT, which was designed to ensure that higher-income people who take large amounts of deductions and other tax breaks pay at least a minimum level of tax. The law made far fewer households subject to the AMT and typically made those still subject to the provision pay far less, delivering another sizable tax cut to many affluent households.

*Doubling the estate tax exemption. The law doubled the amount that the wealthiest households can pass on tax-free to their heirs, from $11 million per married couple to $22 million (indexed for inflation).

Here are some other findings the report supports with charts:

*The tax cuts were skewed toward the wealthy.

*The biggest cuts went to the richest households.

*The corporate provisions are even more skewed at the top.

*The cuts severely eroded the country’s revenue base.

*Extending the 2017 Tax Act would cost substantial revenue.

*The corporate rate cut didn’t boost most workers’ earnings.

You can read the full report here.

By the way, the report lays out what it thinks will be a better course than the GOP’s determination to keep all these particular tax cuts rolling. They suggest:

*Tax cuts for people making over $400,000 should end on schedule.

*The tax system needs to raise more revenues from wealthy people and profitable corporations to offset any tax cuts extended or expanded for those with incomes below $400,000, to finance high-value investments in people and communities, and to improve our fiscal outlook.

*Top priorities for extending and expanding tax provisions in 2025 should be the Child Tax Credit, the EITC for adults not raising children, and the enhanced premium tax credits for ACA marketplace coverage. Increased revenues can also be used for other critical investments outside of the tax code.

Of course, we know the Republicans will do no such things. They’ll just keep screwing us over for their rich benefactors.

But they won’t be able to keep it a secret, because while they’ll lie, the numbers don’t.

***

Thank you for reading my post. You can see my other writings on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. Please share and subscribe for free via email on its home page.

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