Viewpoints: Letters / Opinions
The GOP’s Malevolent Tax Proposals
By Ghert Abbott
November 27, 2017
Monday PM
It is impossible to fully convey the sheer, unbridled malevolence of the GOP tax plans currently being rushed through Congress. In order to pay for permanent corporate tax cuts which will predominately benefit the super-rich, working and middle class Americans will receive a permanent tax increase. At first this tax increase will be masked by temporary tax cuts, but once all the temporary cuts expire 50% of Americans will find themselves with a higher tax bill. These permanent tax increases will be particularly concentrated on households earning below $75,000 a year. The GOP’s tax plan will thus redistribute wealth upwards, increasing the tax burden of ordinary Americans while decreasing the taxes paid by the extremely wealthy. But the costs of paying for these corporate tax cuts won’t stop there.
The tax plan will raise health insurance premiums by 10% and eliminate the Medical Expenses Deduction. Its trillion dollar cost will trigger automatic 25 billion Medicare cut and prepare the way for 1.5 trillion dollars’ worth of cuts to Medicaid and Medicare in next year’s budget. Healthcare will become less accessible and affordable as a result.
The plan taxes the tuition waivers earned by graduate students, without which thousands could not afford university. This will raise the costs of higher education in this country. Alaskan students, who have to deal with the additional expenses of going outside for a graduate education, will be particularly hard hit by this change.
The tax plan eliminates Federal deductions for state and local taxation, in effect siphoning money from state and local communities to support the Federal government. States and local authorities will have fewer resources and hence reduced flexibility and independence. These changes will hit large, rural states hardest. Taking everything into account, in 2027 Alaska as a whole will be paying more in Federal taxes than it otherwise would have under the current tax law.
This is the sort of legislation you would draw up if you wanted to engineer a more unequal, more centralized, less healthy, and less educated country. There is every reason to believe that that is precisely the intent.
Ghert Abbott
Ketchikan, Alaska
About: Ghert Abbott was born in Ketchikan in 1986. He is a graduate of Ketchikan High School and the University of Alaska Southeast-Ketchikan.
Editor's Note:
The text of this letter was NOT edited by the SitNews Editor.
Received November 26, 2017
- Published November 27, 2017
Related Viewpoint:
 Easy to take money from those who have sacrificed, planned and worked By Jerry Cegelske
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