Voices intensify over GOP tax plan

Sen. Tillis ‘half true’

“Tillis’ claim that Senate plan will cut taxes of most Americans is half-true” (Dec. 3) on Sen. Thom Tillis’ comments about the Senate tax plan rated his statement that the bill won’t raise taxes on low and middle income people as “Half True.” However, the article also cites the Congressional Budget Office’s finding that people earning less $40,000 will be net losers by 2021 and most making under $75,000 will be net losers by 2027.

I find Tillis’ reluctance to explain the full effects of the bill over time to be utterly dishonest and deliberately misleading. Does the Politifact Truth-o-Meter go that low?

Government ‘discriminating’

Federal elected legislators have some courage. When tax reform is discussed, simultaneously, entitlement reform needs to be done. I favor smaller, efficient government by the people, for the people. How can the country change tax collections without discussing cash disbursements? The single greatest discriminator in the country is the federal government. How and why should the tax returns filed by a homeowner and a renter be different? Consider a married couple filing a joint return with two kids, with one working spouse who is an employee (W-2). Why should the tax liability be different?

The government should not be in the business of picking winners and losers. It’s overdue, it’s time to reduce the tax rates. Repeal the ACA individual mandate, which punishes people not having health insurance. If I cannot afford the insurance, I cannot afford the individual mandate. The federal government must stop discriminating. It’s bad business. I am self-employed; if I discriminated, there would be no customers. Consider helping citizens, not dictating to the citizens.

Set carbon fee

“Tax measure aims to boost fossil fuels” (Dec. 4) highlights that the federal government’s inconsistent energy tax incentives are bad for business: Investors rely on predictable patterns to pursue opportunities and mitigate risks.

However, when energy policies are determined piecemeal and reversed with each new administration, businesses do not have the information that they need to make intelligent decisions. There is a simple solution to this problem: Targeted legislation should be passed that would set energy policy for the long term, thus allowing businesses to anticipate costs and invest wisely in the future.

In particular, setting a fee on carbon emissions would provide a clear market incentive for clean energy investments. Furthermore, this proposal has the backing of many major corporations who have joined the Climate Leadership Council. Introducing a fee on carbon would be good for American businesses, and residents would benefit from the cleaner future such legislation would ensure.

Lots of complaints

Regarding “The tactic McConnell taps to win” (Dec. 2): The tax bills passed by Congress will certainly have profound effects on our society. These include a substantial increase in the deficit, the likely collapse of the Affordable Care Act, an exponential increase in graduate students’ tax burden and the further enrichment of the wealthy. Sen. Mitch McConnell said that only those who are losing complain. He is probably correct. In this case those who are losing include the young, the poor, those with preexisting conditions (and their families), future generations and any of us who would like to live in a society that values and protects its most vulnerable members. McConnell should expect some complaints.

Partisanship ‘harming’ U.S.

Regarding “Teachers ... cry foul on Republican tax plan” (Nov. 13): As a former school teacher, I’m disturbed by many provisions of the tax plan under consideration by the U.S. Senate. I especially find galling the elimination of the tax deduction currently eligible to teachers who spend their own money on school supplies.

Too many public schools are starving for adequate resources to educate our children properly, and teachers are poorly compensated for doing such a vital job. It seems downright cruel to deny them what is a small tax savings when they are acting in their students’ best interests and providing materials that should be in their schools already.

As a senior citizen, I’m also disturbed by the looming cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and the drastic reduction in health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, all of which are helping pay for a significant tax reduction for the wealthy and corporations, many of whom are now making record profits. That these are the tax and budget priorities of one of our two major political parties is a troubling comment on how win-at-any-cost partisanship is harming average Americans.

Tax suggestions

Republicans pushing their revision of the tax code are very convinced that this time their trickle-down economic policies will actually work. That being the case, I have a suggestion for them, one that just might win over more of the American public and perhaps a few Democrats too.

My suggestion is simple. 1. Go ahead and give those massive tax cuts to the wealthy and big corporations. 2. Wait up to two years and measure just how many jobs were created, salaries of the worker class raised and whether the increase in the economy is paying for all of this. And, perhaps, enough money is being generated to pay down our massive national debt. Then, make everyone’s tax cuts permanent.

On the other hand, if their tax cuts do not achieve the above, then instead of being permanent, tax rates reverse back and perhaps a financial penalty be assessed to compensate for the national debt increasing and the failure of their policies. In the meantime, I suggest these Republicans start polishing their resumes for when they go job hunting after the 2018 and beyond elections.

This story was originally published December 9, 2017 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Voices intensify over GOP tax plan."