So today was Donald Trump's big tax policy speech, and this tweet by Paul Krugman sums it up well.
So Trumponomics is standard voodoo with a squirt of protectionism on top. This is supposed to be exciting and turn around his campaign?
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) August 8, 2016
My favorite is Trump doubling down on the failure of trickle-down economics and other giveaways to the rich is his calls to eliminate the estate tax. It is an absurd idea, as the estate tax only hits married couples if they get assets worth more than $10.9 million. It's no surprise a rich kid like Drumpf who inherited all of his "success" and money would want his kids to avoid the tax bill, but wasn't of the standby principles of this country was "no landed gentry", with your Daddy's and Mommy's backgrounds and assets not being the sole determination of whether you can make it in this country? (OK, it kind of does work this way in 2016 America, but Drumpf doesn't want people to know that).
The thought of repealing the "Eric Trump/Paris Hilton" tax is disgusting, yet all but 3 GOPs in the House voted to do this a year ago, despite the fact that doing would raise the deficit by $269 billion over the next 10 years. For a tax cut that almost none of the no-college, dead-end jobber Trumpkins will ever get a diome from. And that's just the tip of the iceburg of Trump's absurd plans, as the oligarchs at Pete Peterson's organization said earlier this Summer that Drumpf's plans were estimated to cause another $10 trillion in deficits for the next decade.
Oh, and in addition to the tax cuts the military will be STRONG and FEARED and our commitment to infrastructure will be YUUUUGE under Trump! With no problems in any other section of government or the economy as a whole resulting from this! Just believe it, and it'll happen!
Uhhh, no thanks. The jury back on the last 35 years of trickle-down madness, and it doesn't work. And today Drumpf proved he is no different than the other snake-oil salesmen that define the GOP in that time period. I know you have to be a sucker to support a racist dimwit like Drumpf in the first place, but you have to be a special kind of fool to think he's some kind of different Republican when it comes to taxing and spending. Nothing but Dubya-2.
Wait a minute . . . you're suggesting tax cuts DON'T boost revenue? HERETIC!
ReplyDeleteHere's a tax reform suggestion: run the rate on a curve rather than in brackets. Increment the rate up a couple hundredth of a point for every couple hundred dollars over a certain level.
Nobody should see their taxes jump 50% or more because they made an extra couple thousand.
$18,000 income = 10% tax or $1800
$19,000 income = 15% tax or $2850
$75,000 income = 15% tax or $11,125
$76,000 income = 25% tax or $19,000
Did those figures in my head, but I think they're pretty close. Gimme a break, my degree was Lit/Comp. Most of my money major friends would be shocked I can find my checkbook much less do the math to balance it.
Ummm, that's not how it works. Marginal tax rates are based on the LAST dollar.
Delete$18,000 income at 10% tax= $1,800
NEXT $1,000, taxed at $15%= $1,950 tax vs $1,900.
$75,000 income still at 15% = $10,300 tax
$76,000 income with 25% rate = $10,550 tax
If you don't know that, you need to. Rich people don't stop making that last $2 million because they might have to pay an extra 10% in tax on it....or if they do change their behavior, they actually invest in businesses and pay their employees instead of hoarding the cash or gambling it in the stock market.
Yikes - very happy you responded so quickly. I hate to think of somebody ready my drivel and assuming I'm right. Appreciate the education and the fact that you didn't Google slap me.
ReplyDeleteSo I wonder where you stand on Trump's suggestion of collapsing the tax brackets from 7 to 3. In general, I think the notion of seriously simplifying the tax system is one of the few things he's got right.
Glad to help. How many tax brackets there are isn't a huge deal- you still have to pay whatever corresponds to that income amount.
DeleteWhat may help is some closing of loopholes and deductions, if you want to stop some of the rent-seeking. The problem is that "closing loopholes" often translates to things like getting rid of the ability to write off your mortgage interest or education expenses or some other item that you count on helping you every tax season.
I'm all for making income tax rates the same as capital gains- right now you pay a lower rate gambling in the stock market or flipping houses than in actually earning money from work, which explains some of the bad behavior in this country, in my opinion.