Trump’s tax plan is a ruse to help himself
Can a president who campaigned on better
and cheaper medical insurance for everyone be trusted after he subsequently promoted plans to take health insurance away from more than 20 million people and raise the cost for the rest of us?
Once again, President Trump is saying “believe me” as he claims his proposal for massive tax cuts won’t personally benefit his own finances. Yet, the only tax returns of his we’ve seen are from 2005. His socalled tax reforms would have reduced his taxes if they had been in place at that time.
His tax scheme helps the richest 1% while putting the upper-middle class at a disadvantage, by repealing the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax, keeping the capital gains tax preference, allowing companies that stashed their profits overseas to repatriate at a very low tax and lowering the tax on “pass-through” income.
Ordinary people won’t benefit from these loopholes, but they will pay more because the scheme reduces the seven current tax rate categories to three, actually raising the tax rate for the previously lowest category. The scheme would also end the deduction for state and local taxes. Trump brags that some will get a $1,000 tax break (woo-woo!), crumbs off the table while he and his swampmates take hundreds of thousands. The reduced government revenue will hurt ordinary people by having to cut government services, such as disaster response, health inspection, disease control or environmental efforts.
Perhaps the clearest “tell” that this scheme is a hoax is Trump’s immediate threat to Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., that he would campaign against Donnelly in Indiana, if Donnelly doesn’t support this ruse. If Trump’s scheme was so good, he wouldn’t need to lead with a threat. Bruce Joffe
Piedmont, Calif.