The monstrous Republican tax giveaway to corporations which they intend to vote on next week just got immeasurably worse for ordinary Americans, that is, those without an “Inc.” or “LLC” after their names.
Most of us who have been watching the transmogrification of a bill that was falsely hyped as providing “tax relief” to the middle class already know it does nothing of the sort. It contains nothing of substantive benefit that won’t be wiped out by higher health care premiums and the elimination of critical deductions that most Americans have come to expect when they do their taxes.
But just in case anyone not making seven-figure salaries didn’t get the message that the GOP was utterly indifferent to their concerns, the Republican-controlled Senate had already tilted the playing field by stipulating that any of its meager, so-called “tax cuts” for middle-class Americans would be phased out by 2026, while the proposed tax cuts for corporations would extend into perpetuity:
The Senate version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made the GOP’s relative indifference to middle-class tax relief especially stark. In order to comply with arcane budget rules, Mitch McConnell’s caucus had to write a bill that wouldn’t add to the deficit after 2027. The upper chamber solved this puzzle by phasing out most of their bill’s middle-class tax cuts in 2026, while making corporate tax cuts — and provisions that raised taxes on a broad swathe of the middle class — permanent.
But even this betrayal of American citizens wasn’t enough for the party of corporate greed. While the tax bill has been almost uniformly judged as an abomination that will explode the deficit, with its real end purpose to bolster new calls for huge cuts in Medicare and Social Security, the GOP still wasn’t satisfied. If, by chance, the predicted deficit-devastation of such a massive transfer of wealth to corporations (who have no intention of doing anything but pocketing the profits being handed to them for the purchase of newer and bigger yachts) somehow doesn’t manifest itself, then Republicans had to ensure ordinary, working Americans would never, ever enjoy the windfall or benefits from the revenue being raised.
And that’s just what they did this week. Levitz quotes Heather Long’s article in the Washington Post:
In a section titled “Revenue-Dependent Repeals,” the Senate plan would prevent some tax hikes on businesses from going into effect in 2026 if tax revenue hit a certain “trigger” level. In total, businesses would get nearly $120 billion more in breaks in 2026 and 2027 if the trigger goes into effect.
Republicans say it’s a sign of fiscal responsibility. The additional corporate tax cuts only kick in if the government is bringing in more money than expected.
At that point, most in the middle class—indeed the vast, vast majority would get absolutely nothing—except hikes on their own taxes:
To review: Senate Republicans wrote a bill that phases out tax cuts for the middle class in 2026, while keeping corporate America’s cuts on the books. They insisted that they wanted to cut taxes on the middle class more, but fiscal constraints simply wouldn’t allow them to. Then, they went back into their bill and added a section stipulating that, should their bill expand the deficit less than expected — which is to say, should they have fewer fiscal constraints — then all unexpected revenue should be immediately spent on making corporate America’s permanent tax cuts larger, even as some middle-class families see their tax bills skyrocket.
The Republican Party is counting on Americans weary of the constant, unrelenting barrage of nonsense and gibberish from Donald Trump to tune out their vote on this thing. That’s why he’s meeting with them this week.
Call them. Tell them this attack on American citizens—because that’s exactly what it is—will not be forgotten in 2018. No matter how many stupid tweets we’re forced to endure.