It seems clear with every move they make the GOOPs are determined to toss this country into history's dumpster, certainly financially - as well as in their protection of Traitor Trump. But it is the first that concerns us here. Namely the news,
House Republicans Move to Extend Individuals' Tax Cuts - WSJ
The feckless GOP plans are now to extend the existing Trump tax cuts, despite massively growing deficits . Clearly these poltroons believe that at least making a show for an extension will win them the hearts and minds of their GOP base- who will then turn out in greater numbers for the midterms. But I have news for them: that base doesn't care one way or other, they are already complacent with the crumbs they've received and will not turn out like the Dems.
Meanwhile we learn (ibid.):
"On top of last year's $1.5 trillion tax cut, the new proposal would reduce federal revenue by $613 billion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation. Most of that cost is packed into the end of the next decade and the cost beyond that would be much higher."
And bear in mind, that means your kids and grand kids will be paying the freight - mainly to support the lifestyles of the rich, the famous and the corporate - since they will reap the greatest rewards by the extension as they have the 2017 cuts. (Politifact has found that median income families received only about 6.6 percent of the $1.5 trillion tax cut, while 93.4% went to the corporations and top earners.)
In the words of Lloyd Bloggett, a Texas Dem quoted in the above piece:
"We have something that is truly disastrous headed our way and it's not just a hurricane."
What is it? How bad? In a separate piece in the same issue ('Deficit Widens On More Spending'), we learn:
"The U.S. federal deficit nearly doubled in August from a year ago, as government spending swelled and revenues decline".
And again, let us make note here the GOP's planned tax cut extension will starve revenues even more.
We also learn:
"The government ran a $214 billion deficit last month, compared with a $107.7 billion budget gap in August, 2017... the Treasury Department said Thursday."
So, even as the great jobs and growth narrative is spreading, we are being undermined by massive deficits, debt. The biggest revenue -starving culprit? The ill-advised cut in corporate income taxes.
As we further note (ibid.):
"Corporate income taxes in particular have dropped off. The Treasury said Thursday
gross corporate taxes have fallen 20 percent so far this fiscal year, while indiviudal
tax receipts are up 1 percent"
The loss in corporate tax revenue might - in a stretch - be worth it - if the bastards paid decent wages to their workers, but as per my previous post, we know this isn't the case. Worse, because the Congressional Budget Office now projects a total deficit of $793 billion for fiscal year 2018.
The "big picture" of U.S. debt isn't any better, as the CBO notes. As per a WSJ op-ed reveal (Sept. 15-16, p. A15):
"The U.S. owes $21.5 trillion of Treasury debt, the majority of which is scheduled to be refinanced in the next eight years. - disregarding the additional $1 trillion required by the 2017 tax reform and an estimated $100 trillion of unfunded entitlement spending ahead."
Incredibly, three days ago there we beheld one of the biggest tax cuts propagandists (Stephen Moore, 'The Corporate Tax Cut Is Paying For Itself', WSJ, p. A13) scribbling:
"Thanks to the magic of compounding the corporate tax cuts will yield more than $6 trillion in additional GDP over the next decade..."
But seems unable to reckon in that additional GDP growth doesn't translate to revenue growth, i. e. to pare back growing deficits as the CBO forecasts, though he does add:
"Perversely, because the economy is bigger now than expected, the CBO has revised upward its estimated cost of the tax cut..."
Well, duh, of course they've revised it upward given - as pointed out above - corporate tax revenue has fallen off 20 percent this year, and will continue to fall off each year it's in effect. In other words, never mind the GDP growth, it will not overtake the loss in revenue growth (including from individual income tax cuts). But this is the sort of fantasy land we now inhabit where 'up' is down, and 'down is 'up'. Blame a lot of it on the lying landscape imparted by Trump and his pack of maggots,
Folks, let's not accept bullshit or pretend: we are not swimming in a literal sea of red ink. In this environment the proposal of an extension of tax cuts borders on the derelict and criminal, and those pushing it need to have both their sanity and patriotism questioned.
See also:
Another Tax Scam for the Rich
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