Friday, December 22, 2017

The real cost of the Tax Cut for the Wealthy

What is the real cost of this ts bill for each American?  What will they get for their temporary tax reduction, if indeed they get them?

The NY Times tax bill calculator below does not ask for your real estate taxes or state of residence which could make a significant difference,so results will vary. New Yorkers would usually do worse because of state and local taxes not being fully deductible in some cases.

So with the tax calculator you can get a rough idea of how you will do.  But how much more of the National Debt will each person owe?

The average American's portion of the increased debt from this bill individually is about $4300, and it's $8600 for a couple and $17,200 as the share of the increased debt for a family of 4. (The Increased Debt = $1,500,000,000,000 divided by 350,000,000 Americans to get $4300 each person.) This is your share of the debt individually you've incurred for the extra $25 a week you will receive from the tax cut if you are married with 2 kids and make between $25,000 and $75,000 per year. The exact details on your status will make a difference.

But this does not count the decrease in government services that you would have had access to that you will not have access to in the future that is sure to follow. If they cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid by $1,000,000,000,000 your total new debt plus LOSS OF FUTURE SERVICES would be about $7,100 individually or $28,400 for a family of 4.

Yet even this total does not count the increase in premiums from higher health care insurance costs which this tax bill would cause. If that is also $1,000,000,000,000 you are now in the hole for $10,000,000 or $40,000 for a family of 4! This is what you'd get for the extra $25/week based on my assumptions.

But here is the final straw; if you are priced out of the health insurance market due to premiums being too high and you get ill - your loss can be almost any amount - leading to bankruptcy. And if Obamacare is gutted to the point where pre-existing conditions are cause to be denied coverage, you could be dead.


Now of course the above math goes for the wealthy as well - but what is $10,000 in total to a rich person or $40,000 to a rich family when they may see $100,000 or much more in lower taxes every year, not to mention the decrease in the Estate Taxes for their heirs or the PERMANENT  tax cuts for corporations owned primarily by the wealthy? And that is why this tax cut is for the wealthy.

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