What You Need To Know About The Republican Tax Bill

Fischer, Sasse, Bacon, Smith and Fortenberry are all using family farms and family leave as political cover for giving a Christmas handout to big corporations and Wall Street.

If the #GOPTaxScam makes you angry here are 3 things you can do:

Find a candidate on our page and volunteer to help get them elected.

Become a monthly donor–our goal is to hit 200 donors and we are at 191!

Sign up to be Block and Precinct Captain for 2018. We will train you, give you materials and connect you with other volunteers. Sign up now and early next year we will be in touch with all the details to elect Democrats across Nebraska.

Let’s get the facts straight:

50 farms in 2017 qualified to pay the estate tax. 50 FARMS. So when you hear people say the #GOPTaxScam is great for farmers, they are lying: https://cf.factcheck.org/…/death-tax-talking-point-wont-die/

Deb Fischer’s celebrated “family leave” does nothing to make paid leave a law. All it does is nudge businesses to do the right thing and offers them–yet again–another tax cut if they do. Reality is states are leading on this and Fischer is pretending to be a leader.

55,000 kids on CHIP in Nebraska still have NO PATH to ensure their insurance is funded. So while Deb Fischer takes selfies at the White House, moms and dads are terrified their kids getting cancer treatment will not have anywhere to turn.

Yes, families will get some money back and that is a great thing–but as with everything the Trump Republicans are doing these days, it comes with a catch. Other tax deductions middle-class families used are going away and the tax cuts for middle and working class families expire while all the HUGE tax cuts for the wealthy remain.

Some other articles about the bill that have good facts:

http://www.factcheck.org/2017/12/guide-tax-changes/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/no-the-media-has-not-been-unfair-to-the-gop-tax-bill.html

Other Facts on the #GOPTaxScam:

Big banks and corporations would be big winners under the Republican tax plan.

CNN Money: “Some of Wall Street’s largest banks stand to win big from the tax bill now hurtling its way towards the president’s desk — but among them, Wells Fargo will make out the best.”

Fox Business: “GOP tax reform could give Wall Street banks a lift”


CEOs continue to say that they will use massive corporate tax cuts to benefit wealthy shareholders, not to create jobs or raise wages.

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan: “‘Is it our goal to increase return to our shareholders and do we have an excess amount of capital? The answer to both is, yes,’ Sloan said. ‘So our expectation should be that we will continue to increase our dividend and our share buybacks next year and the year after that and the year after that.’


The Republican tax bill could even encourage corporations to cut jobs
or move them overseas.

Wall Street Journal: “Based on analyses of past programs to repatriate overseas corporate earnings, Wall Street analysts and tax experts expect companies would use the money for purposes such as buying back shares and mergers. Instead of adding jobs, they say, companies might cut them if they use their cash to buy rivals and then take out costs.”


The Republican tax bill could encourage companies to actually cut jobs, not add them.

Wall Street Journal: “Based on analyses of past programs to repatriate overseas corporate earnings, Wall Street analysts and tax experts expect companies would use the money for purposes such as buying back shares and mergers. Instead of adding jobs, they say, companies might cut them if they use their cash to buy rivals and then take out costs.”


The Republican tax bill creates a huge pass-through loophole that benefits the rich.

Vox: “The deduction creates a huge loophole for rich people, who could incorporate as sole proprietorships and ‘contract’ with their employers so their income is counted as pass-through income rather than wages.”


Republicans have tried to claim their tax bill helps middle-class families with changes to child tax credits and other deductions, but these changes are small and only temporary.

Bloomberg: “Other temporary changes, which would last through 2025, would boost the standard deduction and child tax credits and modify state and local tax deductions and the mortgage interest deduction.”

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Final CTC Changes Don’t Alter Tax Bill Basics: 10 Million Working Family Children Get Little or Nothing”


The Republican tax bill benefits corporations and the richest Americans – who get massive tax cuts — more than the middle class.

Associated Press: “GOP tax bill slashes rates for corporations and wealthy with smaller benefits for middle class”

Washington Post’s Wonkblog: “The final plan lowers the top tax rate for top earners. […] This amounts to a significant tax break for the very wealthy, a departure from repeated claims by President Trump and his top officials that the bill would not cut taxes on the rich.”


Tax cuts for middle-class families in the Republican tax bill expire, leaving many households left to pay more than they do now.

 The Daily Beast: “Your tax cut is temporary. A company’s tax cut is permanent.”

Wall Street Journal: “Middle-income households will get tax cuts that are set to expire, and some households, particularly upper-middle-class residents of high-tax states, would likely pay more than they do now.”

 

The Republican tax bill repeals the individual mandate and would result in 13 million fewer people having health insurance.

 Bloomberg: “As a bonus for Republicans, the measure would repeal the individual mandate that requires individuals to purchase insurance — a measure imposed by the Obamacare law. … Congressional budget experts have estimated that repealing the mandate would result in 13 million fewer people having health insurance in 10 years. “


The Republican tax bill increases the deficit by nearly $1.5 trillion, and Republicans will use that as an excuse to slash funding for critical programs that would hit lower-income families the hardest.

 New Yorker: “The Final Version of the G.O.P. Tax Bill Is a Corrupt, Cruel, Budget-Busting Hairball”

Bloomberg: “A preliminary score from Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation showed that the new version of the bill would increase federal deficits by $1.46 trillion over 10 years — before accounting for any economic growth that might result. Earlier versions of the legislation were estimated to boost deficits by roughly $1 trillion even after such effects.”


Trump and his family would still benefit a lot from changes in the Republican tax plan, but we can’t know exactly how much until he releases his tax returns.

 The Daily Beast: “The Trump Organization wins, big league. […] The final tax bill, however, slashes this liability, allowing most pass-through businesses—like the Trump Organization—to deduct 20 percent of their income tax-free, effectively cutting the president’s tax rate in half. Of course, without the president’s tax returns, it’s impossible to know for sure.”

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