Tag: supply side economics

Avoiding Another ‘Brownbackistan’

The following column was posted on the Roll Call website October 24, 2017:

Tax cuts in Kansas led to an economic train wreck

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s tax cuts are a cautionary tale for Washington lawmakers who are hitting the gas to get a tax reform package completed by the end of the year without paying much attention to details, Patricia Murphy writes. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

“Economic gold rush? Or fiscal wreck?” That was the question the Kansas City Star asked on May 23, 2012, the day after Gov. Sam Brownback signed a sweeping series of state tax cuts into law. Five years later, the Kansas tax cuts are looking a lot more train wreck than gold rush, with a $900 million deficit and Brownback’s fellow Republicans stepping in to reverse the cuts he pushed.

Kansas also offers an awfully timely cautionary tale for Washington lawmakers, who are hitting the gas on getting a tax reform package — any tax reform package — done by the end of the year in order to chalk at least one win on the board for 2017, but who don’t seem to be sweating the details just yet.

Continue reading “Avoiding Another ‘Brownbackistan’”

Trump Pushes Massive Tax Cut for Multimillionaires over Child Care for Working Families

The following article by Katie Hamm was posted on the Center for American Progress website October 19, 2017:

Pre-K students line up outside a classroom in San Antonio, April 2014. Credit: AP/Eric Gay

The White House recently released a tax reform proposal that would repeal the estate tax, among other provisions. Repealing the estate tax would result in $240 billion in tax cutsfor millionaires over the next 10 years. Only those with estates valued at more than $5.5 million for an individual and $11 million for a couple are subject to the estate tax. These estates represent the wealthiest 0.2 percent of Americans. In fact, President Donald Trump’s children could see a $1 billion tax windfall from this provision.

During his campaign, President Trump said that he would make child care more affordable for low-income and middle-class families. He could make good on that promise by prioritizing child care assistance over tax breaks for millionaires. Continue reading “Trump Pushes Massive Tax Cut for Multimillionaires over Child Care for Working Families”

The White House reveals what next week’s ‘big announcement’ on taxes will look like

Some of us remember the Reagan years and trickle down economics, which just doesn’t work. Steve Mnuchin has a perfectly Reaganesque quote in this article.  We’ve highlighted it for you. And, here’s a link to an article discussing Reagan economics.

The following article by Damian Paletta was posted on the Washington Post website April 21,2017:

AP/Evan Vucci
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on the federal budget on February 22, 2017, in the White House.

The White House will release on Wednesday the “broad principles and priorities” of their plans to overhaul federal taxes, a White House official said Friday night, downplaying expectations that the Trump administration would reveal key details underpinning the plan.

President Trump said earlier Friday that he would release new information about his plan to overhaul the tax code on Wednesday, a sign that he is trying to accelerate one of his most ambitious campaign promises even though key specifics remain undetermined. Continue reading “The White House reveals what next week’s ‘big announcement’ on taxes will look like”

It’s Time to Take America’s Billionaire Class Head On

The following article by David Morris was posted on the AlterNet website February 2, 2017:

Combatting defeatism may be our single most important psychological objective in the wake of the election. We need to revive the spirit embodied in Barack Obama’s vague but hopeful campaign slogan in 2008, “Yes We Can.” At the federal level this is a time to expose, to educate and to resist. But at the state and local level we can act proactively to fashion strategies that both embrace progressive values and directly benefit those who mistakenly voted for Donald Trump as an economic savior. This is the first in a series of pieces focusing on what can be done.

The Giveaway

Over the next 6-12 months Congress will almost certainly give the richest 1 percent of the population an income tax gift totaling some $75-150 billion. The 1 percent, with annual incomes averaging $1.3 million, will capture 47 percent of the tax cuts for an average annual tax saving of $214,000 each, the non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimates based on Trump’s proposal, which does not differ dramatically from that of the House Republicans. Continue reading “It’s Time to Take America’s Billionaire Class Head On”