Tax the rich

by | Jan 5, 2018 | Editor's Blog, North Carolina, Politics | 11 comments

Americans are not happy with the tax bill that Congress just passed. They believe it’s a give-away to the rich, explodes the deficit and adds to the national debt. They’re right.

Unlike the early 1980s, the public wasn’t clamoring for a tax cut. Only the wealthy and big corporations (otherwise known as the GOP donor base) were. Republicans thought they could buy off the American people by offering them a relatively small tax break but it’s not going to work.

The pain from the Great Recession is still too great. Middle income families still have not recovered and the working poor are faring even worse. Since 2007, middle income families have seen their net worth shrink by $53,000. Low income families are now worth $8,000 less, losing almost half of their net worth in less than a decade.

In contrast, people making over $127,000 a year have seen their net worth increase by $70,000. The stock market is at record highs, with the Dow closing at over 25,000 yesterday. Those gains may give people confidence in the economy and the security of their jobs but it also points out that somebody is doing a lot better financially and it’s not them.

With the exception of the people who delude themselves with Fox News, most Americans know that this tax plan is going to help the people who are benefiting from that stock market a lot more than it’s helping them. They also know that somebody is going to have to pay for that $1 trillion bill and it’s quite likely going to be them.

To pay for his tax cut, Paul Ryan is wants to cut food stamps, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Social Security and medicaid . He’s going to start with food stamps because, politically, they’re easiest. Much of the Republican base thinks food stamps are for lay-abouts and moochers. In fact, most food stamp recipients are children and about 60% of those who aren’t kids, disabled or elderly are working. So, the real moochers are companies that don’t pay their employees enough to feed their families.

Just once I would like to see a tax reform bill that put money in the pockets of middle class families and was paid for by the richest Americans. Instead, of taking food stamps and health care from poor people to pay for our debt, we should be asking the people who have benefited from the recovery to pay just a little bit more. Maybe when the middle class tax cuts are set to expire next decade, Democrats will have the backbone to say we can’t let those tax cuts for the middle class expire, but we can make the rich pay for them.

11 Comments

  1. funny-quotes-and-poems.com

    Thanks for finally talking about >Tax the rich | PoliticsNC <Liked it!

  2. Ebrun

    Over 90 American private sector companies have announced major wage, benefit and/or new hiring initiatives in just a little over a week since the Republican tax reform legislation was signed into law. The initiatives will benefit thousands of middle and working class American families; Here’s the preliminary list:

    https://www.majoritywhip.gov/TaxReformWorks?utm_source=Speaker.gov+Master+List&utm_campaign=b998d88a3d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e173f5a25-b998d88a3d-157378765

  3. Randell Hersom

    A resounding yes.
    Income inequality – measure it.
    Improve it.
    Repeat.

    Make sure to hold back 5-20% or the new revenues to reward corporations or high earners that document actions that benefit the identified priorities of the people. Make public opinion surveys and/or actual voting the method of selecting who gets the tax credits.

    Put the people in the drivers seat. Or watch the same cycle of greed happen all over again.

    Good luck to us all. It’s a massive FUBAR to clean up.

  4. Philip

    YES. Tax the Rich. They’re the only ones who have the money. Instead of taking food and health care away from our fellow citizens, how about making the wealthy pay their fair share? Back in the good old days (the Eisenhower years), the top income tax rate was 91%. And those were good times for many of us. The rich have enough. It’s time to re-balance the inequity in our society.

    • Tom

      By the way: nobody paid 91%. The really interesting figure when looking at taxes paid is the effective tax rate., There are people earning over $500,000 who pay an actual portion of their income in taxes that is less than those earning under $50,000.

      • Philip

        Yes, Tom, of course you’re right. Nobody (or at least nobody with a decently competent tax advisor) paid anything at the 91% level. I just used that number as an attention grabber. The key point, the question of increasing inequality in our society, is well documented in the recent book by Thomas Piketty, “Capital” (2013). This–our return to the Gilded Age–is what we need to pay attention to.

  5. Tom

    To witness fraud and not report it is criminal. To accuse the poor of it without evidence is immoral. To prevent it is both humane and patriotic. Years ago I investigated an assertion that someone on food stamps was picking up government checks in a new Cadillac. When I probed this charge I learned that a rather affluent woman was picking up checks for a maid whom she probably did not pay adequately.

  6. Troy

    “Who does not like the tax cuts?” I don’t. Do I disagree with tax reform? No. Do I not like the form in which this “cut” has manifested itself? You bet. Middle class indeed. I was unaware that the American “Middle Class” was comprised of people at the median income level of $150k +.

    ” I realize some people need food stamps, but 45 million?” So, what’s your arbitrary number if not 45 million? How many would suit you? What criteria would you use to determine who needs assistance? Are there people who malign the system? You bet and the corptocracy just maligned the system to get permanent tax breaks. So rather than begrudge it to those 45 million people, I would have preferred that this “Tax Break” would have included a provision to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr. At least we would have been assured that trickle down would have worked at least once; albeit forced.

    “In 2016 my family of 4 spent $20,000 out of pocket for medical care. Plus my spouse is a state employee. So the state paid about $5,000 for her medical insurance.” I’m curious, if you spent $20k and the State paid $5k for your wife’s healthcare, how’d you get you spent $25k out of pocket?

    “I do not think the average family of 4 spent $25,000 in medical care in one year.” I don’t think that either. So, where does that place you on the scale?

  7. db

    Where do you get your information from? Who does not like the tax cuts? Some pole that CNN did?
    We probably need to cut food stamps. 45 million on food stamps so some of them can buy tattoo’s. . I realize some people need food stamps, but 45 million?
    We probably need to cut medicaid. Been to the doctor lately? I see a lot of people that never pay any thing. I have been to a lot of doctors in the last 18 months. My daughter is a emergency room nurse. She sees a lot of fraud.
    In 2016 my family of 4 spent $20,000 out of pocket for medical care. Plus my spouse is a state employee. So the state paid about $5,000 for her medical insurance. I do not think the average family of 4 spent $25,000 in medical care in one year. So yes we need to cut some things and people off some programs.

    • JB

      That’s an almost impressive amount of horseshit to pack into so few sentences.

      • Rob Slater

        disgusted:

        “NC State Employees do get free health coverage, but the deductibles are high as are the co-pays. Moreover, family members pay the full price, plus have the same high deductibles and co-pays.” How does this qualify as “free”?

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