Editorial consisted of Democratic talking points
In preparing the recent Sunday editorial page criticizing the Republican tax proposal, opinion writers at The Mercury must have had their copy of the Democratic Party Playbook open to the page on Class Envy/ Class Warfare. I have to admit that this piece, “Tax plan poised to send America in the wrong direction,” with its adjacent “Cartoonist’s take,” was a masterful effort in political sophistry. Just savor the embellished rhetoric to stoke those class envy emotions: “the poobahs running those big businesses,” “America’s corporate fatcats,” and “plum for the nation’s ruling class.” Then there’s the other extreme, those “working stiffs.”
Well, I was a working stiff for over 40 years. Now I’m a retired stiff, a Republican stiff at that, and I like the tax proposal. I’m really not too concerned that higher income earners might get a bigger tax break than I get. They likely pay more taxes than I do, so it only seems right to me. What doesn’t seem right to me is The Mercury’s effort to sway my opinion by publishing incomplete truths. For example The Mercury writes, “middle-class folks face the possibility of losing crucial benefits, including the deduction for interest on home mortgages, and the allowance for state and local income tax.” That’s a true statement as far as it goes. The problem is it doesn’t go far enough. If The Mercury had wanted to write an objective, accurate and unbiased article, at this juncture they would have added that the standard tax deduction will double under the new tax reform program, and that the new standard deduction will more than compensate for the above losses in the vast majority of cases. Studies indicate that 94 percent of tax filers will use the standard deduction under the new tax program. Has anyone besides me noticed that critics of this tax reform program always neglect to mention that the standard deduction doubles?
“Then there is the deficit.” The Mercury writes, “Most experts say the one thing this tax plan is certain to do is explode the deficit.” No they don’t! Experts don’t say that, Democrats say that! In fact many experts say that in all likelihood economic growth will more than compensate for any projected deficit. When critics of this tax reform program cite increased deficits, it’s a case of hypocrisy running amok. The deficit, the national debt “exploded” under the previous administration when Barack Obama poisoned the well by adding more debt to our economy than any previous president, a total of $9.321 trillion.
The Mercury doesn’t believe that the tax reform package will spur economic growth either. The Mercury writes, “Of course, Republicans believe the growth spurred on by the tax cuts will alleviate the ballooning deficit numbers. There was a time when Republicans used to call this kind of stuff smoke and mirrors.” Smoke and mirrors, huh? At my advanced age I can recall that the Reagan tax reform ushered in 20 years of robust economic, stock market and employment growth. I can even recall when Jack Kennedy, a Democrat, cut taxes, and this too stimulated our economy. Hard to believe, but Democrats used to cut taxes too. And this Republican tax reform will also stimulate our economy, whether you like Donald Trump or you don’t. And in fact The Mercury detests Donald Trump and doesn’t want to see him get the least amount of credit for any program no matter how beneficial it might be for American taxpayers. Thus The Mercury’s biased effort to influence public opinion.
So let the proof be in the pudding. We’ll all know soon enough just who’s blowing smoke and who isn’t. And if the tax reform is hugely successful, the Democratic Party will have had absolutely nothing to do with it.