Republican tax scam is a middle class shell game

Republican tax cuts for the rich are a political "slight of hand"- playing games with the nation's growing deficit.

"The tax cuts for the rich legislation, according to CBO, will have the largest deficits between the 2019 fiscal year and the 2022 fiscal year. The finding comes as GOP senators have largely ignored warnings that their tax plan would increase the deficit."

Here are 7 reasons why Republicans wrongly sold their party on the middle class shell game.

In passing a bill giving tax cuts to the rich, the Republicans have passed the burden of paying for their cash cow on to the middle class.  It's like the tax bill gives the middle class a short acting injection of anesthesia, by offering some up front cuts, for the purpose of socking it to the same people when the effects wears off and the deficit grows.

1.  Nobody read the tax bill when it was voted on.  In fact, the bill was scribbled together in such an ineligible manner that it was unfit to enter into the Federal Register in it's draft form.  There's no way possible that scribbled bill that was voted on by a 49 to 51 partisan vote can be transcribed just as it was presented. (I think the last time the Congress hand wrote legislation was in 1789~ Twitter post by @Thor_Benson.)

2.   Passing the tax cuts for the rich will inflate the nation's deficit by $1Trillion forcing future generations to pay for it.  In fact, the Congressional Budget Office reports that the Senate tax bill increases the nation's deficit by $1.4 trillion.

• The Senate GOP tax plan will increase the deficit by more than $1.4 trillion over a decade, according to a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

• The CBO score came as senators were already voting on amendments to the legislation and are expected to pass the bill in the early morning hours of Saturday.

3. Americans do not support the tax cuts for the rich. In fact, Senator Angus King took calls from constituents.  For every one call his office received in support of the tax cuts, there were 10 who opposed the bill and asked him to oppose it.   

4. Moreover, The Washington Post reported about 400 millionaires who requested that their taxes not be cut. More than 400 American millionaires and billionaires are sending a letter to Congress this week urging Republican lawmakers not to cut their taxes. The wealthy Americans — including doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and chief executives — say the GOP is making a mistake by reducing taxes on the richest families at a time when the nation's debt is high and inequality is back at the worst level since the 1920s.  The letter called on Congress not to pass any tax bill that “further exacerbates inequality” and adds to the debt. Instead of petitioning tax cuts for the wealthy, the letter told Congress to raise taxes on rich people like them. 

5.  The United Way and the American Association of Retired People (AARP) opposed the tax cuts for the rich. 

• United Way Worldwide, the world's largest privately-funded nonprofit, came out against the Senate's tax bill early Saturday as senators voted on amendments to the plan.  In fact, the nonprofit organization argued that the tax plan wouldn't provide much benefit to low-income families and would hurt charities. “On behalf of those who will be impacted in nearly every community we serve, I am deeply troubled by many aspects of the tax reform bill the Senate is now considering,” United Way Worldwide President and CEO Brian Gallagher said. He added that "the elimination of the charitable deduction for 31 million middle and upper-middle income taxpayers causes such damage to our ability to help people, we have no choice but to oppose the bill.”
• AARP Opposes Senate Tax Bill Older filers would get few if any tax breaks — and millions would likely see their taxes increase.

6.  Given the rare opportunity to invest tax resources into improving the lives and quality of life for all Americans, the Republican bill takes money away from future generations for the purpose of generating short term individual and corporate wealth.

7.  Although the middle class tax incentives will expire in 10 years, the corporate tax cuts do not have an expiration date.

Given the tax cuts for the rich will become a greedy law, the Democrats will be in the long term position of opposing the terrible impact of the daunting list of provisions, that will be shifted to all middle class and poor Americans.  

In fact, the tax cuts for the rich is the shell game of tax policy.  Whenever a criticism is made against the wrong minded plan, the shells quickly move, with the political slight of hand.  None ~ none~ who voted for this shell game know what they really passed and they can't tell us, with certainty, what the long term impact will be on the US economy.