Republican senators are proposing another startling tax cut for the extremely wealthy.
Last year, the Trump tax cuts upped the estate tax exemption to $11 million per individual or $22 million per couple, leaving just 5,000 super-rich people in the entire country whose inherited wealth would fall outside that amount.
Now, the GOP wants to get rid of the estate tax entirely with another tax cut for the extremely wealthy. It's another way that the GOP is willing to wage a class war.
Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have teamed up to demand a complete elimination of the estate tax. Of the 5,000, only 1,700 people are expected to actually pay the tax each year.
It is an astonishingly tone-deaf maneuver, given the struggles of ordinary Americans, but well in keeping with the GOP's goals of making sure people like Trump's children benefit to the tune of billions and billions of dollars.
In his press release touting his proposal, Thune comically claimed that the brunt of the estate tax is borne by family-owned farms and ranches and that such a way of life is "integral to so many South Dakota families." In reality, even before last year's tax giveaway, roughly only 20 residents of South Dakota were subject to the estate tax annually.
The recent GOP tax cut was always a giveaway to the very rich, and they've always been willing to hurt lower- and middle-income Americans to transfer even more money to the hyper-wealthy
First, they passed a tax cut they knew would explode the deficit. And indeed, it exploded spectacularly. The Treasury just had to borrow $1 trillion for the second year running to finance the deficit. Then, they've used that ballooning deficit to justify deep cuts. Last year, the administration denied federal workers their 2.1 percent raise because Trump said there were "serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare." The administration is also using the looming deficit to argue that they need to pass a tough budget with across-the-board spending cuts. Nor have lower- and middle-income people seen any more money in their paychecks. In fact, the Trump tax scam led to real wages falling and a drop in spending power.
This latest GOP proposal is yet another indication that the GOP has no interest in helping ordinary Americans.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
