Reason # 58: Promises, Tax Promises
In the runup to the 2016 election, Donald Trump made a lot of promises. Anyone with an ounce of sense should have known better than to have trusted that he would even make a minimal effort to show faith and fulfill his promises. After all, he had promised all of his wives that he would love and honor them, keeping them above all others. He had promised the many investors, tenants, contractors, employees and lawyers that he would live up to his contractual obligations and honor their business deals, pay their bills. Fat chance wives and investors.
In any case, he promised the American people that he would “make America great again”. This statement by clear implication is unpatriotic, suggesting that although the U.S. holds leading positions in the United Nations, NATO and SEATO, we had somehow become a second world nation?
He promised to “drain the swamp”, whatever that means. Donald and his intellectually challenged minions do not typically demand annoying specifics but are content with vague slogans.
But then, as typical with Republican presidential candidates, he promised to lower taxes. Here we had something of substance. Or did we? Minimum wage earners typically do not have to pay any income taxes, so they get zip from income tax reductions. You could help them by raising the national minimum wage, but only Democrats support such a “Marxist” proposal, Republicans have been blocking minimum wage laws nationwide for decades. Of course, the poor pay the exact same sales taxes as billionaires like Trump do.
What about the lower middle class? They do pay some income tax, but generally not much and accordingly, get little benefit from income tax reduction.
Where we really start to see substantial dollar amounts saved are among the kleptocrats. The highest tax bracket got only a measly 2.6% tax break, a pittance. Except that if we are talking about a million dollars owed, the tax reduction is $26,000, more than the minimum wage earner makes in a year. And that is only for the first million dollars; many of Trump beneficiaries get that reduction many, many times over.
And then there’s me. Although I opposed the Trump tax cut as fraudulent, I made out like a bandit. Why? Because I bought Apple stock many years ago at low prices and the shares doubled multiple times over the years. How did the Trump tax cut help me?
Remember, that the tax cut did not just affect tax rates for the wealthy, it also cut taxes for corporations and allowed them many other dodgy ways to avoid paying their fair share of contributions to our national society. Corporations really struck it rich.
This is pretty complicated, so I will let David Cay Johnston (from his book, “The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and his Family.”) assist me to explain it to you. The corporate tax rate fell 40% from 35% to 21%. Corporations also got immediate write offs. Now we are talking really gigantic numbers now. But again, this is relative chump change.
Even bigger was a Trump tax forgiveness for multinational corporations who had been avoiding U.S. taxes for decades. And they had up to eight years to pay! The biggest winner was Apple Computer, based in Cupertino in California but holding $250 billion in Europe, profits they had not paid $88 billion in taxes on. Apple was forgiven $50 billion in taxes due and had eight years to pay off the remainder – essentially an enormous loan from the U.S. government. The total benefit to Apple amounted to more than $120 billion! Multiple companies used this windfall to buy back stock shares, driving prices up – to the sole benefit of those wealthy Americans who own stock. Most lower salaried Americans own little or no corporate stocks.
Who will pay for this enormous shortfall in tax revenue? You guessed it first try, you will, if Donald Trump is reelected. The loss in tax revenues goes into the federal deficit, which inevitably falls to Democratic administrations to recover. And the Grand Olde Party cons voters with promises of fiscal responsibility.
I got a totally undeserved big bump in my Apple stock price and a major gain in retirement fund value. What did you get from Donald Trump?
Why do we need to defeat Donald Trump and ensure that a Democrat occupies the White House?
The consequences if you vote for Donald Trump again will be many more promises that will never be kept and a small group of smiling billionaires.
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
September `17, 2024