A new analysis from the Center for American Progress has found that the tax cuts the GOP enacted inĀ 2017, which Donald Trump has repeatedly lauded as the biggest in American history (cue Ron Howard: they werenāt), magically morphed into tax increases for more than 10 million American families.
While campaigning for president in 2016, Trump said, āEverybody is getting a tax cut, especially the middle class.ā And ā surprise! āĀ just as we didnāt get āinsurance for everybodyāĀ or a zeroed-out national debt, the Pollyanna dream of a tax cut for everyone proved too difficult to manage because ā¦Ā you know ā¦Ā rich people eat first.
And, hey, lots of people are noticing.
[T]hese numbers reveal that for millions of Americans, it is not just a misconception; their taxes actually did go up thanks to the law. Much of this had to do with the elimination of personal and dependent exemptions, caps on the State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions, and the termination of the employee business expenses deduction. The SALT deduction cap especially punished families in states like California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, which rely on higher revenues and ā likely not coincidentally ā Ā voted in large numbers for Trumpās opponent in 2016. An estimated 1,736,118 Californians and 1,211,721 New Yorkers saw tax increases, while just 624,481 Texans saw increases.
Steve Wamhoff, who authored the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policyās study [which the Center for American Progress study was based on], told ThinkProgress that the 10 million estimate is correct. āMost families did receive a tax cut from the Trump tax law,ā he observed. āThe real problem is that vast majority of the tax cuts went to people who do not need help. Half the tax cuts went to the richest five percent, which about a quarter going to the richest one percent. Those among the top five percent got bigger tax cuts not just in dollar terms but even when measured as a share of their total income.ā
Of course, if youāre not already filthy richĀ and you actually expected Donald Trump to act in your best interests, Iāve got about 20 Nigerian princes Iād like to introduce you to. Things are getting so bad for regular Americans here in the land of plenty that, at this point, Iām just hoping they build the Soylent Green factory a respectful distance away from my patio.
And, yes, I know a lot of people did get tax cuts, but the GOPās long-hoped-for domestic spendingĀ cuts will no doubt absorb those benefits like Trumpās placenta soakingĀ up his motherās three-martini lunches back in April 1945.
So, yeah, another day, more evidence of Trumpian bullshit.
Welcome to America in the Year of Our Derp 2019.
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