Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

elleng

(130,156 posts)
Sun Jul 2, 2017, 05:51 PM Jul 2017

How Low Can Taxes Go? Outside Washington, Republicans Find Limits.

'Something strange has been happening to taxes in Republican-dominated states: They are going up. Conservative lawmakers in Kansas, South Carolina and Tennessee have agreed to significant tax increases in recent weeks to meet demands for more revenue. They are challenging what has become an almost dogmatic belief for their party, and sharply diverging from President Trump as he pushes for what his administration has billed as the largest tax cut in at least a generation.

And now some Republicans say that what has played out in these states should serve as a cautionary tale in Washington, where their party’s leaders are confronting a set of circumstances that looks strikingly similar. Republicans, with control of Congress and the White House and a base that is growing impatient for tax reform, are trying to solve a difficult math problem: paying for critical programs like infrastructure, health care and education while honoring their promise to deliver lower taxes without exploding the deficit.

The debate promises to test the enduring relevance of one of the most fundamental principles of modern conservatism — supply side economics, the idea that if you cut taxes far enough, the economy will expand to the point that it generates new tax revenue. . .

Bruce Bartlett, who advised Reagan on the 1981 tax cuts, chastised Republicans for what he described as their reflexive desire to drive rates lower. “The essence of what the supply-siders were trying to accomplish was accomplished by the end of the Reagan administration,” Mr. Bartlett said. Yet, he added, Republican policy still mimics what was done under Reagan. “They’ve got to keep pressing ahead — no matter what,” he said. . .

“If there were three words I could say to Congress right now,” said Stephanie Clayton, a Republican state representative from a district in the Kansas City area, “they would be, ‘Don’t do it.’”

She criticized what she said was a desire by her party to be more faithful to the principle than to the people Republicans were elected to help. Mr. Brownback and many conservatives, she said, overpromised on the tax cuts as a “sort-of Ayn Rand utopia, a red-state model,” citing the author whose works have influenced the American libertarian movement. “And I loved Ayn Rand when I was 18 — before I had children and figured out how the world really works,” Ms. Clayton added. “That’s not how it works, as it turns out.”'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/02/us/politics/republican-tax-cuts.html?

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How Low Can Taxes Go? Outside Washington, Republicans Find Limits. (Original Post) elleng Jul 2017 OP
Grover Norquist is gonna be mad. Control-Z Jul 2017 #1
Yes, still alive. elleng Jul 2017 #2
If you can call what he is "alive," he's still that jmowreader Jul 2017 #3
The one-per-centers don't care, they don't pay taxes FakeNoose Jul 2017 #4
Link. Igel Jul 2017 #5

FakeNoose

(32,354 posts)
4. The one-per-centers don't care, they don't pay taxes
Sun Jul 2, 2017, 10:23 PM
Jul 2017

They got us middle class people paying taxes for them. Get it?

None of this will change until a Democrat is in the White House.


Igel

(35,197 posts)
5. Link.
Mon Jul 3, 2017, 03:15 AM
Jul 2017
https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/114th-congress-2015-2016/reports/51361-householdincomefedtaxes.pdf

This differs from most such graphs in that "federal taxes" includes payroll taxes. It still doesn't include state taxes.

It's also for 2013--it was produced in June 2016. Some people, IIRC, were still deducting losses from 2008 and 2009 to offset income in 2013.

It should be unnecessary to point out that this was produced under Obama's administration. But it's clear: the top quintile (top 20%) pay far more than 1/2 of federal taxes.
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»How Low Can Taxes Go? Out...