Statement on Vice President Pence visit: Tax cuts to put the richest first
Posted June 14, 2018 in Press Releases
Vice President Pence should make his slogan square with the facts
As Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Columbus to promote the new federal tax law, Policy Matters Ohio Executive Director Amy Hanauer issued this statement:
“The tax law Congress approved last December provides huge benefits to those who need them least, America’s wealthiest. This year in Ohio, the top 1 percent of taxpayers, with average incomes of nearly $1.3 million a year, will average a $40,190 tax cut, according to an analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Middle-income Ohioans, making between $39,000 and $59,000, will average an $800 cut, while those making less than $22,000, will see just $100.
The real goal is to make the rich richer, while taking money away from health care, financial aid, and other essentials that make America work better for all of us.
Corporations are getting enormous tax cuts. Yet The New York Times reported this week, “The new corporate tax cuts are unlikely to stimulate the level of job creation and wage growth that the Trump administration has promised, a trio of prominent economists has concluded, because high tax rates were not pushing much investment out of the United States in the first place.”
Now, the Trump administration is arguing in court that the tax law also means insurance companies should be able to deny health coverage or charge more to those with preexisting conditions. This is just the most recent and preposterous way that this law, which will increase the federal deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade, is being used to rip away basic protections for all of us. “Tax cuts to put the richest first” would be a more accurate slogan than the one Vice President Pence is operating under at the Columbus event.”