“Top coat, top hat,
But I don’t worry,
Cuz my wallet’s fat.”
ZZ Top, Sharp Dressed Man
Donald Trump has relea
sed his tax plan. Tax Foundation, an independent entity has provided some analysis of the plan. If implemented, the top taxpayers will get a very generous break. The mid-level taxpayers will get a break too, but a rather more modest one.
The top 1% look to get an average tax break of at least $122,400.00, according to Tax Foundation analysis, while the mid-level tax payer could expect a break of, on average, $494.00. Tax Foundation (taxfoundation.org) is an independent tax policy research organization. They’ve been doing this work since 1937.
Using the analysis of Tax Foundation, a top 1% tax payer could expect a tax cut of between $122,400.00 and $192,000.00. If Trump’s projections of a newly thriving economy under his administration hold true, the tax reductions for the top 1% would be more like between $146,400 and $238,400. However, most experts do not expect Trump’s rosy scenario to play out. His projection is for a 3.5% growth of GDP; last year the economy grew at about 2%.
Trump’s plan would favor the wealthiest among us by dropping the top tax rate of 39.6% to 33%. The corporate tax rate would drop from 35% to 15%. Estate taxes and gift taxes would be eliminated.
Pass through i
ncome is income that passes through a business to the individual tax returns of the business owner. Trump has said that he would like to apply the 15% rate of business tax to this sort of money. The types of income in this category include sole proprietorships, LLCs, and S corporations. Tax Foundation sees this as a $1.5 trillion for the wealthy.
That’s trillion with a T. $1,500,000,000,000.00. Seems like a lot of tax savings for those that are already doing well. Maybe that would trickle down, but somehow I don’t think so.
I’m kind of in the average range. I’ll vote in my self-interest, and mark my ballot for Hillary Clinton. Her tax plans are much more in line with taking care of the middle class. Bernie is not a choice. Donald is a bad choice.
They said the same thing about Reagan’s tax plan, but according to no growth Democrats, that didn’t work either. Remember the 80″s? I do. More wealth, more jobs, more money earned, more tax revenue, exploding growth – yeah, it was bad- terrible in fact – if you were a Democrat!
As for “trickle down” economics,,, when hasn’t it been trickle down? There will always be rich and poor – the question is the middle-class. Will it exist if Obama policies and regulations are extended with Clinton? I will go out on a limb and say the misery will continue and the debt will grow more and the economy will suffer. And she will exercise her power to order the military to interject in conflicts because she is the worst when it comes to military judgment.
Your value in the economy is not what the government says it is, it is what the economy says it is. We don’t pay the guys and gals who assemble sandwiches $20/hr because their economic value is not worth that. Even if they are a single parent with 10 kids, they are simply not contributing an economic value greater than minimum wage ($8/hr?). The answer to why is simple, no one will pay $15 for a sandwich (at least no one outside of major metropolitan areas, but COL is greater there anyway). However, we do pay owners of large corporations large sums of money because if that person made a poor decision a multi-billion dollar company (like Meijer for example) might fold thus forcing tens of thousands of people out of work and probably taking a lot of West Michigan with it (such as food distribution, food suppliers, and all the other stuff Meijer carries that we’ve come to love). Where would West Michigan be if we didn’t have Meijer? There is no such thing as economic equality because we don’t each contribute equally to the economy. So why should the guy who makes billion dollar decisions not get paid millions of dollars and the guy that makes sandwiches get his equal economic value in wages.
We’re getting lazy America. While I do believe we have seen wage stagnation, many companies have not seen too much growth. Where growth does exist, new federal laws (such as the Health Care Law) has put added financial burdens on companies. To maintain profits, which is why they are in business in the first place, they cut wages, cut hours, cut benefits, and cut bonuses. The government will never be able to take enough money from the rich to satisfy the middle class and the lower class unless the government owns all of the jobs and eliminates the private sector entirely. There is no such thing as “trickle down economics”. There is however supply and demand. If there is only one person out there capable of making a sandwich (or willing to) you can bet that person will get paid a large sum of money to do that every day. If you CHOOSE to work at a company that pays lower wages, they will continue to thrive while paying lower wages. However, you could go to another company that pays higher wages for the same job. Then that other company will get the picture that without employees I don’t have a business so they will raise wages to bring back their skilled workers.
So, you have a choice today. Are you good enough at what you do that you think you deserve more money? Ask for the raise. If you’re denied, maybe it’s time to move to that company that DOES pay more for your skills. If the other company won’t hire you, or pay you what you want, maybe you’re already getting a fair wage for the skill level you are at. Let’s get off our butts and DO SOMETHING FOR OURSELVES! Stop blaming the business owners, the government, your parents or anyone else. Think for yourself and get up and DO something about it!
Free Market & Mike,
Well wrote!
Thanks,
John