#74A- The Republican's "PT Barnum" Approach to Tax Reform

There are many reasons why the Republican monstrosity on tax reform should not see the light of day, but let me focus just on one.  It safer that way, if I put too many points into one posting, I would be afraid too many readers might just lose it completely and spontaneously combust into a pile of ashes. I wouldn't want that on my conscious

You may have heard that there are a lot of positive tax reductions for businesses, and there are also tax reductions for many, but not all individuals.   This part is true. 

But do you know that the business tax reductions are permanent?  Which means it's very possible that they could stay in place for all of eternity or until hell freezes over, whichever comes first.

But, but, but the individual tax cuts, on the other hand, are set to expire in 2025.  Did you know that?! Coincidentally that would be one year after DJ Trump's second term.  How convenient.  Let someone else clean up his f**k up.

As perverse as this is, Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan, blamed, what they consider to be, the arcane Senate rules, for causing this “disconnect”.  Imagine my surprise.  I thought those rules were in place to keep stupid politicians from doing stupid things.   It shows you just how little I really know. 

The arcane problem to which Republicans will refer is that if the individual tax cuts were permanent, that would jack up the calculated cost of these tax cuts from $1.4 trillion to somewhere in the range of $1.9 trillion, according to the fiscal watchdog group Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which is roughly $.4 trillion over the so-called arcane Senate limit. 

Republican leaders, in promoting their PT Barnum “there’s a sucker born every minute” approach to tax reform say, don't worry, don't worry, Congress will do the right thing in 2025 and extend the individual tax cuts.  Right...the only thing we can be sure of is that Congress will only do what is good for Congress.  There is no direct correlation that their actions will be good for our country.

“The savings, the score (i.e. the $1.4 trillion stated cost), it just isn’t valid because you know that they’re not going to follow through,” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), an avowed fiscal conservative, said in a recent interview. “You can’t assume that we’ll grow a backbone later. If we can’t do it now, then it’s tough to do it later.”

It should be noted, that Senator Flake has voted for this plan anyway.

In a desperate attempt to appear relevant, and to placate their donors, and to line their pockets, Donald Trump and the Republican Congress have falsely promoted their tax plan as the grand middle class tax cut, and in the process, they have sold America down the river.  

Even PT Barnum would have been impressed.