Rigging the economy more

The U.S. House is set today to pass a bill, advertised as tax reform, that represents a fundamental breaking of faith with President Trump’s promise to un-rig an American economy stacked to enrich the wealthy and well connected at the expense of the little guy. In a nation that has supposedly awakened to the pervasive problem of wealth and income inequality, the bill’s benefits to working- and middle-class Americans are paltry, and not only because they start out earning less money.

Meantime, through provision after provision, the richest — including, what do you know, businesspeople just like Donald Trump and his family — are poised to get the biggest boost.

Through exempting many more of the best-off families from the estate tax.

Through a 23% deduction on all partnership pass-through income, which is how many titans of industry report their earnings.

Through a provision, pure gold to developer types like Trump, Sen. Bob Corker and others, that extends that benefit to real-estate firms.

Through large marginal income-tax rate cuts that bring a couple earning $600,000 down from the 39.6% bracket to 37%, and a couple earning $300,000 down from 33% to 24%.

Through the preservation of the so-called carried-interest loophole — which lets managers of private equity funds and hedge funds pay taxes at the low rate that applies to capital gains. Trump explicitly promised to eliminate it; it’s staying.

Those in the middle class will take home a bit more money — unless, oops, they happen to be living in New York or its suburbs or any number of other high-tax states, since only $10,000 in state and local taxes will be able to be written off.

There is sure to be some stimulative effect. But unless these changes supercharge economic growth in a sustained way contrary to all economic projections, they will explode deficits — and force cuts to vital government programs the poor rely on, including Social Security and Medicare.

Corker, who promised to oppose any bill adding a penny to the deficit, joins the breathless giveaway. Shame on him. Shame on them all.