Month: December 2017

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A Temporary Setback on the Way to a Just America

  By Federal Taxes, Taxation, US

The Trump-GOP tax cut bill passed the House on a party-line vote with twelve Republicans voting against it this afternoon. It  is likely to pass the Senate tonight. This process reminds us that history does not move in a straight line. There are moments, like this one, in which America takes a step away from its promise of equality and justice for all. A combination of ideological zealotry, partisan extremism, and financial power has given us legislation that will cut taxes for the richest Americans while ultimately raising taxes and insurance premiums for working people and the middle-class and taking health insurance away from 13 million people. Wall Street will benefit, but the rest of us will be harmed by higher taxes, insurance premiums, deficits, and interest rates, and, if the Republicans have their way, deep cuts to the social safety net. This legislation will ultimately rank in the same… Continue reading

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It redistributes from working people and the middle class to the rich. And that’s just wrong.

  By Federal Taxes, PA Budget and Policy Center, PBPC Blog posts, Social Justice, Tump, US

Originally published at KRC-PBPC. With all the controversy over the details of the tax cut bill that is moving towards a final vote in the House and Senate this week it is easy to forget about the basic features of the bill. As they did during the debate over repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the Republicans put forward noxious proposals—to radically reduce the state and local tax deduction, to tax graduate student stipends, to eliminate the deduction for teachers who use their own funds in classrooms, and to eliminate the deduction for extremely high medical expenses among others—and then removed them from the final proposal. But we shouldn’t be gratified that these horrible elements of the bill are gone when the basic framework of the bill, which has remained constant in every version considered by the House and Senate, remains so awful. The legislation is basically a huge and… Continue reading

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On the Passage of the US Senate GOP Tax Bill

  By Federal Taxes, PA Budget and Policy Center, Statements, US

Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, released the following statement on the passage of the U.S. Senate GOP tax bill: “Budgets are, it is frequently said, moral documents. If that is true, and we believe it is, then the tax plan adopted by the Senate today represents an extreme moral failure on the part of the Republican Party. At a time when incomes are becoming ever more unequal, the Republican tax plan will ultimately make the rich richer and the poor and middle class poorer. It will benefit corporations at the expense of families. And, because of the repeal of the individual mandate, it will cost 13 million people nationwide — and 500,000 in Pennsylvania — health insurance leading to 1000 to 2000 premature deaths in our state alone. Continue reading

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The GOP Tax Bill: An Assault on Economic Equality and Democracy

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

Budgets, it is frequently said, are an embodiment of our moral ideals and commitments. If so, the tax plan adopted by the Senate on Friday represents an extreme moral failure on the part of the senators from the Republican Party who voted for it. At a time when incomes are becoming ever more unequal, the Republican tax plan will ultimately make the rich richer and the poor and middle class poorer. Not only will working people and the middle class suffer, but so will our whole country. And not only that: one has to wonder what kind of democracy America has, when our government acts in such utter disregard of a majority of the country and the common good. Many of the features of this bill that work to help the rich and harm everyone else are now well known. So let’s quickly review them with links to the hard… Continue reading