No comments

For Many Pennsylvanians, Insurance Premiums Increase Are Greater Than Tax Cuts

  By ACA, Federal Taxes, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Taxation

As we have pointed out previously, because it repeals the individual mandate, the Senate tax cut proposal will not only lead to 13 million fewer people having health insurance in the United States, but it will lead to much higher premiums for many who do purchase health insurance on the individual market. The CBO’s estimate was that premiums nationwide would increase by 10%. Last week we presented a very rough estimate of the impact of repeal of the mandate on the average cost of health insurance premiums in Pennsylvania and suggested that the average increase in premiums is likely to be higher than the average savings in taxes under the Senate plan. New research from the Commonwealth Fund provides more detailed information on the increase in premiums for Pennsylvanians at different ages. And their work reinforces our conclusion. In 2019, much of the benefit of the tax cut to middle… Continue reading

No comments

Help for Your Thanksgiving Day Tax Debates

  By Federal Taxes, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Taxation

If your family is anything like ours, politics tends to come up around the Thanksgiving Day table and diverse opinions are often put forward, including by one or more of our cranky uncles who mutter about “those people” and the “damn government.” Since your cranky uncles like mine no doubt listens to Rush and his friends, they are going to present you with a lot of misinformation about the GOP federal tax cut bill. But have no fear as we have your back.   Claim: Of course we are cutting taxes for the rich and not for the poor. Only the rich pay income taxes. Answer: This is the myth that helped cost Mitt Romney the election in 2012. It’s totally misleading. It is true that in good economic years, about 40% of households don’t owe federal taxes. But: 1. If we include federal payroll taxes, only about 14% of… Continue reading

No comments

The Rich Get Richer: Why the Senate Tax Bill Is a Total Sham

  By Budget analysis, Federal Taxes, Inequality, PA Budget and Policy Center, Taxation

The Senate Republican tax plan would provide enormous, permanent tax cuts to high-income households and corporations – all while adding at least $1.5 trillion to the deficit. And to pay for its permanent tax cuts for corporations, the bill would raise taxes on many middle-income families and repeal the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, increasing the number of uninsured Pennsylvanians by 505,000 and raising individual market premiums nationwide by 10 percent. Congressional Republicans’ skewed and fiscally irresponsible tax plan would raise taxes on many middle-income families and drive up health insurance premiums to pay for permanent corporate tax cuts. The tax plan would fail Pennsylvania’s families and economy. The House passed its bill on November 16. Senate Republicans are moving quickly to ram through their tax bill the week after Thanksgiving and work with the House to send a final bill to President Trump by the end of the year.… Continue reading

No comments

The House GOP Tax Plan — Redistributing Wealth to the Wealthy

  By Federal Taxes, Taxation

President Trump loves superlatives. Everything he does is record-breaking, the biggest or the best. And that goes for the tax cut plan he will sign if the House Republicans have their way. It won’t be the biggest tax cut in American history. But it will the most one-sided tax cut in our history with most of the benefits flowing to the top 1% of Americans. The House plan is truly an extraordinary piece of legislation. No tax proposal in American history — not even the big tax cut put forward by President Reagan — ever proposed giving 75% of the tax cuts to corporations and other large businesses. Yet that is what this plan does. It proposes a steep drop in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. And rather than close the loopholes that allows most corporations to pay an effective tax rate of only 14%, it makes… Continue reading

No comments

Why the House Tax Proposal is Bad for Pennsylvanians

  By Federal Taxes, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center

While the tax cuts proposed in the House of Representatives plan may not be the largest in American history, they are very likely the ones most weighted to benefit the very richest Americans. This press memo, shared on November 13, 2017, outlines why the House of Representative’s tax proposal is bad for Pennsylvanians. Click here to print or read full screen.  Continue reading

One Comment

The Rhinocerization of America

  By Philosophy, Politics

I’m in a bit of a state right now. I’ve been dwelling all day on how much trouble this country is in. And then the terrorism in Texas may have sent me over the edge. To not say anything seems impossible. To ask, as I did the last time we faced a terror attack, if the shooter is a terrorist, a thug or simply crazy is to make a point most everyone who reads this will already understand. To offer thoughts and prayers seems ridiculous. I’m just profoundly scared about the future of this country, and indeed, of liberal democracy in the world. I believe the moral arc of the universe bends to justice. I believe that morality is deeply rooted in the nature of human beings and in our capacity to reason. But it has always taken struggle to realize our aspirations to the human good and justice. The forces… Continue reading

No comments

Property Tax Elimination in PA — on HB/SB 76

  By Pennsylvania, Taxation

As we at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center point out here, some people believe that the constitutional amendment on the ballot in November would make it easier to enact some version of the property tax elimination proposal HB /SB 76. We’re not sure that this is true. But if it were, we would certainly oppose the constitutional amendment because HB / SB 76 is possibly the worst policy proposal we’ve ever encountered.  There is a superficial appeal to the proposal to replace the property taxes raised to fund Pennsylvania’s schools with state-wide income and sales taxes. We rely too heavily on local taxes, mostly property taxes, and far less heavily on state taxes to fund our schools. And the over-reliance on local property taxes is one of the main reasons we have the most inequitably funded schools of any state in the country. It is also why property taxes… Continue reading

No comments

This Is Not Normal

  By Pennsylvania, Taxation

It’s hard to look at politics in America without being afraid for our future. Everywhere we look we see extremist movements that reject common standards of argument and evidence and are willing to say anything to advance their cause—and they will not compromise even at the cost of creating a public disaster. What we see so clearly in our federal government is happening in state politics as well. And it is time for us to recognize and name it. The influence of extremist politics in the state budget process this year was not normal. And good government in this state will be impossible if it becomes normal. This year Pennsylvania faced a serious budget deficit of close to $3.5 billion. And thanks to Governor Wolf and Republican leaders in the Senate, we had a chance to deal with it in a responsible bipartisan way. But right-wing extremist Republicans in the… Continue reading

No comments

On the U.S. House GOP Tax Bill

  By Federal Taxes, Statements, Taxation

This press statement, released on November 2, 2017, shares our reaction to the House GOP tax bill and how it will disproportionately benefit the top 1% of Pennsylvania families. “While we won’t have a detailed analysis of the U.S. House tax cut bill released today for a week or so, it is a direct descendant of previous GOP-Trump tax plans, so the rough impact of the bill becoming law is fairly clear. “Republican rhetoric that portrays the bill as benefiting the middle class is hollow. We expect that around half of the benefit of the legislation will flow to the top 1% of Pennsylvanians — those with an average income of $1.7 million. Pennsylvanians in the bottom 60% of families will see little benefit. And because of limitations on the deductibility of state and local taxes, a significant portion of middle-class and upper-middle families will see their taxes increase under… Continue reading

No comments

In Truth, The PA Budget Is Still Not Done

  By Budget, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget

A quick take If the governor signs the tax and fiscal code bills passed this week, or allows them to become law, a funding plan for the Pennsylvania Budget for 2017-2018 that technically allows for a balanced budget will be complete. But the work of the General Assembly is not finished because this funding plan not only fails to address the long-term budget problems faced by the state, it deepens those problems. The result will be that the fiscal year beginning in July 2018 will be in deficit and that, unless the state changes direction, those deficits will no doubt increase in subsequent years. (Click the title for more) A genuine bi-partisan effort on the part of the governor, a majority of the Pennsylvania Senate, and what appears to be a majority of the Pennsylvania House sought to enact a shale tax, that is a severance tax on natural gas… Continue reading