Tuesday, October 24, 2017

We Americans NEED Tax Reform

John R. Houk
October 24, 2017


President Trump’s tax reform has a bit of everything beneficial from rich to poor. NOT JUST THE RICH as the Democrats deceptively tell their listeners. Sensibly, along with the give there is also some take. After all, tax revenue is what operates the government whether every Joe-American likes it or not.

The Democrats and Left-oriented media obfuscate the reality of Trump tax reform with claims it benefits only the Wealthy and harms the Middle Class. That claim simply is not true because deductions benefitting the rich are stream lined as much to wealthy as to all the other tax brackets. Since the Wealthy pay a majority of the tax revenue, even with a reduced tax rate the reduction in deduction choices still gives the Wealthy a punch to the gut.

Talking about tax brackets, President Trump wants three reduced from the present day seven brackets. Speaker Paul Ryan apparently wants to add a fourth bracket aimed at the uber-wealthy most likely to kowtow to the Democrats accusation of a tax plan only benefitting the rich.

The Original Tax Bracket Proposal (Source: TheBalance.com 10/23/17)

§  Lowest Rate: 12% (down from 15%)

§  Middle Rate: 25% (down from 28%)

§  Highest Rate: 35% (down from 39.6% - let’s just call it 40%)

If GOP Establishment Has its Way – The Fourth Bracket

§  Somewhere between 35% to 39.6% (Source: FoxBusiness.com 10/20/17)

TheBalance.com has an accurate of the plusses and minuses of Trump Tax Reform with no pun intended, balancing to the plus-side. SavingToInvest.com is apparently running a constant update on where the Trump Tax Reform seems to be at based on recent information.


The Heritage Foundation has a fantastic analysis of the proposed Trump Tax Reform looking through the eyeglass of Congress-talk with the term “Unified Framework”. The Heritage analysis begins by detailing how tax reform will benefit Corporations in the sense of benefiting the U.S. economy. The Corporation analysis is written terms that we every-day Americans can understand. Then Heritage looks at how tax reform affects us normal American individuals. I encourage you to read it: http://tinyurl.com/yalz2k35

Today, we have an anti-growth, complex and out-of-date tax code. President Donald Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made it clear before the November 2016 election that pro-growth tax reform would be a major legislative priority for Republicans in 2017 if they were given the chance to govern.  


Our tax code currently suppresses American business growth, is far too complex for the average citizen, and is full of cronyism. Accordingly, I encourage [you] to stick to the following principles on tax reform: lower and simplify individual tax rates, lower the corporate tax rate, permit “full expensing,” establish a territorial tax system, and end cronyism.

The American people gave Republicans control of the House, Senate and White House, and there is a real opportunity to achieve comprehensive, pro-growth tax reform. Congress can use this as an opportunity to pair tax reform with spending cuts in order to comply with the rules of budget reconciliation and maximize the economic benefits of tax reform. After all, the federal government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. (Hat Tip: HeritageAction.com)

JRH 10/24/17


No comments:

Post a Comment