With the big rise in the growth rate for the economy announced today, the mainstream media is looking for something it can criticize about the Trump economy. Today's choice seems to be taxes. Here's the new line from the media: "corporate taxes are falling while workers are paying more."
That's just a lie, and absolute lie.
Let's take a look at what the media talking point is. Total collections of revenue by the federal government from corporations are expected to fall in 2018 compared to 2017. Meanwhile, total collections from individuals are expected to rise in 2018 compared to 2017. Let's be clear; that doesn't mean workers are paying more in taxes. The opposite is true. The same date cited by the media indicates that the average middle class American family will pay about $2500 less in taxes in 2018 than in 2017. Of course, since there are expected to be about an additional three to four million people with jobs in 2018 than in 2017, the total tax collections will be increased by the taxes paid by the people holding those new jobs. Even so, that would not be enough to raise tax receipts. No, that increase in tax receipts come from the 6% or so of individual taxpayers whose taxes will go up. This 6% is almost entirely composed of very wealthy individuals with large capital gains income. The 15% rate on capital gains which prevailed in 2017 got raised to 20% for investment income in excess of $500,000. I don't know about you, but where I come from most people with investment income over half a million dollars a year do not get called "workers". They're called super-rich. Someone with capital gains of ten million dollars will pay about an extra half million bucks in taxes under the new tax law. That's where the bulk of the additional tax revenue from individuals will come from.
It just wouldn't play well for the Democrats/media to announce that the tax cut legislation actually raised the taxes for the super-rich. As a result, they just call them "workers". The person paying the extra taxes is actually sitting by the pool where the maid brings out a dry martini, but the Democrats instead want you to picture some teenager flipping burgers at McDonalds paying those extra taxes instead. It really is a pernicious lie.
That's just a lie, and absolute lie.
Let's take a look at what the media talking point is. Total collections of revenue by the federal government from corporations are expected to fall in 2018 compared to 2017. Meanwhile, total collections from individuals are expected to rise in 2018 compared to 2017. Let's be clear; that doesn't mean workers are paying more in taxes. The opposite is true. The same date cited by the media indicates that the average middle class American family will pay about $2500 less in taxes in 2018 than in 2017. Of course, since there are expected to be about an additional three to four million people with jobs in 2018 than in 2017, the total tax collections will be increased by the taxes paid by the people holding those new jobs. Even so, that would not be enough to raise tax receipts. No, that increase in tax receipts come from the 6% or so of individual taxpayers whose taxes will go up. This 6% is almost entirely composed of very wealthy individuals with large capital gains income. The 15% rate on capital gains which prevailed in 2017 got raised to 20% for investment income in excess of $500,000. I don't know about you, but where I come from most people with investment income over half a million dollars a year do not get called "workers". They're called super-rich. Someone with capital gains of ten million dollars will pay about an extra half million bucks in taxes under the new tax law. That's where the bulk of the additional tax revenue from individuals will come from.
It just wouldn't play well for the Democrats/media to announce that the tax cut legislation actually raised the taxes for the super-rich. As a result, they just call them "workers". The person paying the extra taxes is actually sitting by the pool where the maid brings out a dry martini, but the Democrats instead want you to picture some teenager flipping burgers at McDonalds paying those extra taxes instead. It really is a pernicious lie.
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