September, 11 2018, 12:00am EDT
Republican Plan for Tax Reform 2.0 Would Help Millionaires and Billionaires, Hurt the Middle Class
"It isn't just bad policy, it's reckless and stupid."
WASHINGTON
This afternoon, in response to House Republicans rolling out a series of bills that make up their "Tax Reform 2.0" package, the Patriotic Millionaires issued the following statements in response to specific provisions within those bills:
On making cuts to individual tax rates permanent: "Extending the cuts to individual tax rates isn't a win for middle-class Americans. Congressional Republicans are dropping a few crumbs in front of the American public to distract from the fact that they're robbing them blind. Just wait, Republicans are going to use these cuts later as an excuse to cut Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs millions of Americans rely on."
On making cuts for pass-through owners permanent: "The pass-through deduction is simply indefensible. If Republicans actually wanted to help small businesses there were 100 other ways they could have done it, but they chose the one way that happens to give a massive tax break to any millionaire or billionaire rich enough to hire an accountant to funnel their income through a shell company. Just 10% of people who claim pass-through income are actually small business employers, and half of them don't conduct any business activity at all. Making this deduction permanent isn't about helping small businesses, it's about rewarding GOP donors and enriching the dozens of Republicans in Congress and the White House who personally benefit from the pass-through deduction."
On making caps to the State and Local Tax (SALT) Deduction permanent: "Capping the SALT deduction is a petty partisan attack on blue states that's more about flexing Republican power than it is about actual tax policy. Republican Members of Congress from California, New Jersey, and New York should think twice before voting to raise taxes on their constituents just to make a point."
On Universal Savings Accounts: "Universal savings accounts aren't designed to help normal Americans save, they're built to give rich Americans another tax shelter. The rich are going to love the tax benefits of their universal savings accounts, but most Americans don't make enough to take full advantage of these accounts, if they are able to use them at all. Even for people that do use them, USAs don't help people save. Because the money in them is so much more accessible than funds in a 401k or Roth IRA, people are most likely to spend their money instead of saving it for retirement. Pushing these kinds of savings accounts isn't just bad policy, it's reckless and stupid."
For further comments or questions, please contact Sam Quigley at sam@patrioticmillionaires.org.
The Patriotic Millionaires is a group of high-net worth Americans who share a profound concern about the destabilizing level of inequality in America. Our work centers on the two things that matter most in a capitalist democracy: power and money. Our goal is to ensure that the country's political economy is structured to meet the needs of regular Americans, rather than just millionaires. We focus on three "first" principles: a highly progressive tax system, a livable minimum wage, and equal political representation for all citizens.
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"Every 10 minutes a child is killed or wounded. They are protected under the laws of war, and yet they are ones who are disproportionately paying the ultimate price."
The IDF's destructive attacks on Nasser and al-Shifa were part of a broader Israeli assault on Gaza's healthcare system. An analysis released Monday by Save the Children found that the rate of monthly Israeli attacks on healthcare in Gaza since October has exceeded that of any other conflict around the world since 2018.
The group estimated that Israel has launched an average of 73 attacks per month on healthcare in Gaza—and at least 435 attacks total since October.
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After a prolonged debate, the unelected House of Lords cleared the way to pass the Safety of Rwanda bill early Tuesday morning, after dropping several proposed amendments including one that would have required independent verification that the central African country is a safe place to send migrants.
The House of Commons then passed the bill, and King Charles III is expected to formally approve the legislation in the coming days.
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The Conservative government signed a treaty with Rwanda last December to strengthen protections for asylum-seekers, including a provision that partially bans Rwanda from sending people back to their home countries.
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Proponents of the Rwanda plan will inevitably point to today's disaster as further evidence that strong measures are needed to address the issue of Channel crossings. They will accuse Labour and opposition parties of ignoring the human cost of letting this crisis continue and argue that lives are at stake if the government does not act.
[...]
The reality is that a substantial number of people who pay people traffickers large sums of money to crowd them on to a tiny boat do so because they feel they have no other option. Fleeing war and persecution, they are desperate. And so they are prepared to take desperate measures. Measures that sometimes lead to tragedy, but which are deemed necessary given the hopelessness of their situation.
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