Reason # 41: Tips
Why do we need to defeat Donald Trump and ensure that a Democrat occupies the White House?
Donald Trump’s latest attempt to recover lost ground is to promise that he will pass legislation to repeal tax laws collecting taxes on tips for waitresses, bartenders and others of the two and a half million Americans who receive the majority of their income from tips. This is big money; tips total $36 billion/year. Sounds like a sweet deal for the hard-working waitress, but three card monte also looks like easy money. You should know by now, that if Donald Trump is offering to shake hands with you on a deal, you need to count your fingers.
It turns out that Donald has a sleezy back history on tips. In 2016, catering employees at the Trump SoHo hotel sued the Trump family for charging a 22% service fee on catering bills and pocketing the money. Because customers could not be expected to also pony up and add a personal tip, the servers were screwed. They accused Trump management of purloining waiters’ tip income
There is some justice in this world. Because influential NBA players like Lebron James boycotted Trump SoHo, revenues plummeted, the Trump brand was removed and the hotel renamed to avoid bankruptcy. Another TRUMP bites the dust.
Trump also advocated changes in tip legislation in 2017, during his term as POTUS.
https://www.corp-research.org/trump-organization
Trump Organization: Corporate Rap Sheet | Corporate Research Project (corp-research.org)
This proposed legislation would have allowed corporations nationally to snatch worker’s tips, using a scheme similar to that in play in SoHo, to the tune of $5.8 billion. Although managers would theoretically distribute tips to dishwashers and cooks, just as long as all employees got a minimum wage, the law allowed employers to divert left over tip money into the company coffers.
Accountants estimate that more than twelve percent of tips are already being taken – stolen -from employees in the U.S.A. On the flip side, employees are not reporting some cash tips. Trump’s proposed 2017 legislation would have allowed employers to grab tips legally. In the end this chump change dropped out and only corporations and the very wealthy received a generous trillion dollar plus tip from Donald Trump.
OK but that was then, this is now. This Time Donald Trump is definitely going to do the right thing by struggling tip-based employees. Right? Within days, Republican Senators had introduced legislation to remove taxes on tips. How can that be a bad thing?
Jake Johnson explains that the law applies to only 2.5% of workers and a third of them don’t earn enough to pay taxes. Even those who do pay taxes will benefit only minimally. The Republican law features smoke and mirrors that potentially would allow rich tax cheats to reclassify some of their income as tips. Enough is never enough for Republicans.
Although Kamala Harris is accused of me-too ism for also supporting tax free tip income, her proposed law would exclude tips-for-millionaires schemes and focus on ending statutes that allow restaurant owners to pay waiters and waitresses only $2.13 an hour and raise minimum wage laws in order to make real change in economic status for hard-working, low-income restaurant workers.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/no-tax-on-tips
Take a tip from me and don’t allow yourself to be misled that Trump cares, even a little, about those who serve his at his table.
There is another type of tip, as when one gives advice to buy a promising stock. More on that tomorrow
Have a heart; use your mind, search your conscience, and vote for Democratic candidates – across the ballot – on November. 5th.
Please share this message with your friends and please, add your thoughts, to expand upon what are only brief sketches here.
Fred Grannis
August 29, 2024