The Republicans rolled out their new tax plan proposal today. It provides a boon for the rich while exploding the deficit and debt. Some middle class familiies would see some savings, but millions more would not see any tax savings at all. Key features of the new plan include lowering the corporate tax rate to 20%, eliminating the alternative minimum tax that mostly the wealthy pay, and eliminating the estate tax that their kids pay upon inheriting multi-million dollar estates. donald and his family will no doubt benefit handsomely from this plan. But we knew that would be the case, right? Also gone are deductions for high medical expenses and deductions for state taxes. Mortgage deductions will be capped at $500k versus $1m. Standard deductions will be increased, which will lower taxes for some middle class families, assuming such reduction isn't offset by things like the removal of state tax deductions. For millions of poorer/lowering income working class families that do not pay income tax but pay other federal taxes like SS, Medicare and excise taxes, not one cent in tax relief from Republicans. The tax plan is estimated by its drafters to increase the deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years. Remember when Republicans cared about the deficit? Until Jan 20th of this year? My take is that this is the wrong time to be running up bigger deficits for tax cuts that will mostly benefit m/billionaires. Republicans bill this as a job creating program, but with the economy continuing to grow nicely and the unemployment rate at just 4.4% and job creation growing steadily for its 8th year now, we don't need to goose the economy to create more jobs at this time. That will likely result in inflation as will has higher deficits. With the economy in good shape and unemployment rates low, we should be focusing on reducing the deficit, not tax cuts mostly benefiting m/billionaires.
Reducing the deficit is something we should have focused on in 2009. With $14 trillion of the National debt floating, increasing deficits are inevitable, and $150 billion a year is a drop in the bucket compared to the $500 billion deficit spending runs us.
During times of stability money can be borrowed at a fix rate. They always carry a variable rate during times of recession and growth.
This new bill is far better than what we currently have. It’s not great, it’s not perfect, it isn’t going to make everyone happy......but it’s better than what we have.
You're missing the point of the thread. Deficit spending - Republicans have been dysfunctional at this since the early 1980s.
Its hard to think of an occasion when austerity should be followed! Closest it macroeconomic overheating, but you could argue that- to eliminate trade imbalances- the focus should be more on controlling consumption levels.
A dollar spent on deficit today is a dollar and interest stolen from tomorrow. There's ample examples of stimulus spending having positive effect, such as business loans and municipal bonds where money is tied to a specific project that will over long term benefit, but overall, especially at the individual level, austerity produces stable, long term growth. A large segment of the population living paycheck to paycheck is not fiscally sound.
We can't make that claim though. We don't know how the expenditure, for example, impacts on economic activity in the future. From infrastructure investment to public good provision, we can't treat the public purse in the same way as Auntie Mildred's failure to budget. Can you refer to one economic study that derives that conclusion? There are certainly issues with low savings rates and it's impact on problems such as the trade imbalance. Nothing to do with austerity mind you.
