GOP tax plan scraps deductions for the middle class to do tax cuts for the rich.

GOP plan scraps deductions for the middle class to bankroll tax cuts for rich people.

Here in the city that gave birth to Enron, we’ve learned some hard lessons about believing fantastic financial boasts. So if you’re one of those people who lost money or lost your job when Ken Lay’s house of cards collapsed, the GOP tax reform plan ought to set off a sense of déjà vu.

Just last month, House Speaker Paul Ryan vowed the new tax plan would be “deficit-neutral, that’s the budget rules we use.” Now the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the legislation will cost more than $1.4 trillion.

Congressional Republicans are peddling the idea that their tax cuts will trigger an explosion of economic growth over the next decade that’ll make up the difference. But betting $1.4 trillion on that dubious theory is a mighty risky gamble, especially after past tax cuts haven’t worked out that way. Wishful thinking like this makes about as much sense as racking up a lot of credit card debt today because you think you’re going to get a raise in 10 years.

The sheer fiscal recklessness of this plan ought to be enough to kill it in a Congress filled with politicians who call themselves conservatives. But there are plenty of devils in the details of the 429 pages of legislation that passed through the House, affecting everybody from schoolteachers to orphans. Consider the following:

Teachers would lose their tax deduction for buying classroom supplies out of their own pockets. The average American educator spends roughly $600 of her own money every year on basic supplies that cash-strapped school districts don’t provide, according to a survey by AdoptAClassroom.org. Right now, they can deduct up to $250, but even that paltry benefit gets expelled in the GOP’s tax plan.

Foster parents would lose their tax credit for adopting children. Families can currently offset up to $13,570 in taxes for every child adopted out of foster care, but this bill repeals the adoption tax credit. Employers would also lose a deduction that encourages them to give financial assistance to their workers who adopt children.

Property tax deductions would be capped at $10,000 in the House plan and removed in the Senate plan. About 25 percent of people who pay income tax in Greater Houston deduct their state and local taxes. City Controller Chris Brown reports the average deduction is a little under $8,100, but of course, a lot of people who just received property tax notices in the mail know they’re paying substantially more. And the deduction for sales taxes would also be eliminated.

Sick people would lose their deduction for catastrophic medical expenses. About 6 million households reportedly claim this deduction annually, which applies only to medical bills exceeding 10 percent of a person’s income. This tax break is especially important to people living in nursing homes, who can easily spend more than $10,000 annually on assisted living care.

Student loan interest payments would no longer be deductible. This tax break lets families deduct up to $2,500 a year, even if they don’t itemize deductions. One other bite into the education apple: If your employer pays your tuition for pursuing a degree, the GOP plan would require you to pay taxes on that benefit.

Dig deep enough into this bill and you’ll find all sorts of details that will raise the tax bills for average Americans. Deduction for moving expenses? Gone. Deduction for paying your accountant to do your taxes? That’s gone, too.

And for what? Middle-class taxpayers would get modest tax cuts for a few years, but they would disappear in less than a decade. By 2027, families earning less than $75,000 would pay more, but millionaires would pay less. The bottom line is that the GOP tax plan takes money from average Americans so that corporations and rich people can pay lower taxes.

Before the Senate votes on this tax plan, do what a lot of people who invested in Enron wish they’d done: Take a hard look at the numbers. Pay close attention to the deductions you’re going to lose and who’s going to gain. Then let your representative in Congress know that you’re not buying this bamboozle, and you’re going to remember it next time you vote.