Tom Mcclintock's op-ed

To the Editor:

Several statements recently made by Congressman McClintock which appeared recently in the Democrat and other publications don't stand up to scrutiny.

He touted the Trump tax cuts of 2017, which he claimed fueled the biggest economic expansion in our lifetimes. What he left out was 80% of those tax cuts went to the top 1% of the wealthy. By 2027, more than one-quarter of taxpayers will pay more. Trump's predecessor inherited the Great Recession, which of course affected the economy including employment, wages, etc... Trump in his own right inherited an economy that was already on the rebound.

Greatest regulatory relief ever? Politifact rates this as half true.

Mcclintock ignores that while inflation outpaced wage growth in the early months of the Biden administration, by August and September wages increased and surpassed inflation.

Mcclintock slams the new spending of the Biden administration, but the infrastructure bill was bipartisan — even McConnell voted for it. Oxford Economics and Moody's Analytics predicted it to grow the economy and employ more people in coming years.

Tax provisions. Mcclintock's “hair on fire” remarks about taxes and who pays them are more smoke and mirrors than fact. The new bill will increase taxes for the wealthiest with tax provisions, according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, raise $1.5 trillion in revenue.

Mcclintock's inflammatory remarks about the IRS, “coming after working families” ignores that the IRS has been underfunded and understaffed for a long time, limiting the work they do to ensure the taxes people and businesses owe are collected. It is overdue that everyone, including corporations, pay what they lawfully should.

Mcclintock is worried that reporters will profit from collected taxes that somehow end up in their pockets and do the Democrats' bidding. He needn't worry if he started telling the truth. Wayne Kirkbride

Twain Harte