You ain’t seen nothin’ yet

This economy has only started to boom

IT AIN’T braggin’ if it’s true, as the country saying goes, and so Paul Ryan, speaker of the U.S. House, has every right to describe the just-passed Tax Cuts and Job Bill of 2017 as “the biggest advancement for growth and opportunity in recent memory. It provides real relief to middle-income families and realizes policy goals conservatives have sought for decades.” Or as Speaker

Ryan was quick to note in the Wall Street Journal, “The centerpiece of the bill is the most sweeping pro-growth reform of our tax code since the Reagan era—perhaps ever… [I]t will deliver more jobs, fairer taxes and bigger paychecks for Americans from all walks of life.”

It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, the GOP was down in the dumps when it came to political prospects in next year’s congressional elections. But now those prospects are bright indeed. For just this once Donald Trump may be guilty of verging on understatement when he called the just-passed tax reform “the largest tax cut in the history of our country.” Well, the largest in a while. Remember when Ronald Reagan launched a decade of prosperity by holding fast against criticism, showing patience and fortitude, and being one of the greatest American presidents since Franklin Roosevelt? Ronald Reagan was able to avoid another world war even though he led the country to the kind of economic boom great wars may set off.

Help may not be quite here yet, but it’s definitely on the way thanks to this landmark legislation. Long abused by a tax code that’s costly to administer, the result has been that almost 8 out of 10 Americans live hand to mouth, or rather paycheck to paycheck. Almost half of us say an emergency or an unexpected bill of, say, $500 would make debtors of us, wiping out years of meager savings.

This overdue tax reform would give a family of four making the median annual income in this country ($73,000) a tax cut of $2,059 now, and with good times ahead, a chance to take a better job or start our own business in this land of opportunity. The word from the Internal Revenue Service is that it’ll be changing the tax tables next year so that more of us can keep more of what we earn.

This tax bill represents good news all around. It almost doubles the amount of income an American can earn completely free of any taxes. It simplifies the tax code—a long-time goal of tax reformers—so that almost 9 out of 10 Americans should be able to file their federal income tax on a postcard-sized form.

American families should see their child tax credit double to $2,000 a kid. And all those 529 savings plans would be enlarged to include elementary and secondary schools of our own choice.

And talk about boosting wages at last. This bill cuts the corporate tax rates in this country from 35 percent to 21 percent. That should make American businesses proportionately more competitive, dropping the cost of capital in this country, so now this will be a country others invest in rather than flee from. Just wait till all those jobs and all that capital starts flowing into the American economy once again. Let the good times roll!

MAIN STREET small businesses will be able to deduct a fifth of their incomes from federal taxes and write off the cost of new equipment. So those firms can grow and hire more workers. Why didn’t we Americans think of this before? The answer is that we did, but the naysayers who would prefer to envy their neighbors than have us prosper together stood in the way.

Call it a win-win-win. This bill that’s now become a law finally kills the provision of Obamacare that orders Americans to buy health insurance or pay a tax instead. If the visionaries who invented shale-oil drilling hadn’t been so successful, this bill would finally have opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for exploration and drilling, too, but that may scarcely be necessary with the world now afloat in petroleum, industry’s greatest resource. Hey, what a country again.

But American families and taxpayers aren’t the only winners in this great game. So is the two-party system, for if the promise of this tax reform is fulfilled, Americans will know which party to credit. And if that promise proves a dud, voters will know just which party to blame. This is called responsible government, for it holds each party responsible for the result of its policies— good, bad, and all shades in between.

For further details about this tax reform passed with either shouts of acclaim or a chorus of Bronx cheers, let’s see how it all turns out. And we the people shouldn’t have long to wait now for the new law’s results—whatever they prove to be. Even then partisans will reach their own conclusions. We’re rooting for the optimists and hope their happy vision will be bountifully fulfilled. But if we’re wrong, then blame us, too. Fair is fair.