Trump Tax Plan Will Benefit the Rich

Republican leaders in congress make no secret of prioritizing tax cuts for their wealthy donors and corporate allies over the needs of people who work for a living.
President Donald Trump presented himself as a different kind of Republican—a populist who would look out for ordinary Americans. But, with the president’s full-throated support, Republicans are poised to pass a reverse Robin Hood tax plan that lavishes benefits on corporations and the very wealthy at the expense of Americans just trying to get by, news outlets reported.
Americans get it, even though the GOP has tried to keep them in the dark. Republicans in congress have rushed to ram through the most sweeping tax overhaul in three decades without a single hearing, before the final bill has been scored or even seen except by a select few, and without one Democratic vote in favor. Why the hurry? Why not wait—as President Obama did after Republican Scott Brown was elected to take Edward Kennedy’s senate seat—until sen.-elect Doug Jones can be seated?
That would respect the will of voters, and it would allow for transparency so the details of this far-reaching tax cut legislation for the wealthy can be examined. But GOP leaders are digging in: They know that time, sunlight and their dwindling senate majority all work against them, so they’re operating as swiftly and secretly as they can. Even so, only 26% of voters approve of their plan.
A key reason is that for all the talk of this being a “middle-class tax plan,” this is a tax increase plan for millions of middle-income Americans. Even with the deductions that Republicans have been shamed into restoring, such as those for high medical expenses, taxes could go up for 87 million middle-class families, including 67 million making less than $100,000 annually.
It will strip 13 million Americans of their health insurance and raise premiums on the individual market by an average of $2,000 per year. That doesn’t even count the automatic Medicare cuts of $25 billion next year this corporate tax cut bill triggers, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic cuts to other social services over the next decade, Huffingtonpost said.
It’s estimated that more than 60% of the tax cuts will go to the wealthiest 1% of Americans. The plan lowers the top tax rate for upper-income households and slashes the corporate tax rate. While union members will no longer be able to deduct their dues, people who own private jets will get a break.