Street-fighting man
In praise of our tough-guy prez
Dear John: For all his bluster, President Trump does have an intuitive grasp of how to use available assets to achieve a goal. This ability cannot be taught.
He simply learned it as a street fighter in the New York construction industry. He is the first president in my memory to actually look out for US interests. And this is why voters support him. BK
Dear BK: I hope you are right in his ability to deal with international politics.
Remember the saying that someone’s bringing a knife to a gun fight? Well, I hope Trump isn’t bringing a bat to a nuclear fight.
Things can get out of hand when you don’t understand the guy you are fighting. The Chinese Communist government is a lot different than the contractor building a garage in Atlantic City. And the stakes are certainly higher.
Also, you said that this streetfighter ability “can’t be taught.” But then you say Trump learned what he knows in the construction industry.
So obviously he was taught this. I just hope he looked at the chapter titled “Creating International Tensions” when he was learning his lessons.
Dear John: I know you and a lot of people think the Trump tax plan is turning the economy around.
Plenty have written about how great it is to have doubled the standard deduction especially for families. The increase is from $12,000 to $24,000.
While it is a substantial amount, I have been shocked from Day 1 that no one talks about the loss of one specific item in the new tax plan.
I am talking about the loss of exemptions for the number of dependents you claim on your return.
If you take the standard deduction each year and have more than three dependents, you lose under the new plan. The math is really simple.
Take a family of four. Last year the standard deduction got you $12,000, and the four exemptions got you $16,200, for a total of $28,200.
This year the standard deduction gets you $24,000, and with nothing for exemptions your total is $24,000.
So please tell me how this helps families. Also, please tell me why no one, or almost no one, ever mentions this. I think large families might be in for a big surprise when they file their tax returns next year.
By the way, this has no impact on me, as I don’t have a large family, and I itemize mydeductions.
Certainly, like most New Yorkers, I have been hurt by the limit on income tax and real-estate tax deductions, but I will save my views on that for another time.
Yes, I am a liberal Democrat, but I do like a lot of what you have to say. MA
Dear MA: Thanks for the accounting lesson.
I have said very few nice things about the president’s tax plan. I was against it from the start. And as the nation’s deficits increase and the debt piles up, I like it less and less.
Yes, the economy seems to be doing better. But, as I said in a recent column, that has happened before (for no particular reason), and those gains were temporary.
Your points are good. Maybe Trump has found a new form of birth control: Make it too expensive to have babies, aka dependents.