Republican tax plan makes sense to me
If you’re anything like me, you can go through the same motions and movements over and over and over again and completely ignore the significance of something right in front of your nose. And then one day, for seemingly no reason at all, you have a moment of clarity when something is revealed to you that you have previously ignored on a regular basis.
I’ve often described those moments as an epiphany, even though I don’t believe all are “a manifestation of a devine or supernatural being,’’ as the term is defined.
One of those many moments I have experienced in my lifetime came about eight or nine years ago when I was working as a reporter for The Reflector Newspaper. I had parked my vehicle in the usual spot and was making my normal walk around the southeast corner of the building headed to the front entrance.
I can remember the moment vividly. It was a beautiful morning and the sun was shining. As I walked along the front side of the building, I glanced at the vehicles in the parking lot. Not that it was filled with Rolls Royces or Lamborghinis, but for some reason the site of the cars struck a chord with me.
What resonated with me was that this little business, which at the time was owned by Marvin and Anne Case (essentially sole proprietors), had provided the income that had paid for those cars. And, not only had this little business paid for those cars, it provided the income to pay for mortgages and rent payments that provided me and my fellow employees — and our families — a place to live. And, it wasn’t just vehicles and residences, it was providing income for our sons and daughters to go to college. I could go on and on.
In my opinion, it was an incredibly noble thing that Marvin and Anne Case were doing. They were exceptional employers in many ways and were always extremely generous to those of us who were blessed with the opportunity to work for them. Myself and my fellow employees here at ClarkCountyToday.com are also very blessed in our current employment, much in the same way we were by the Case’s at The Reflector.
I’m not a tax expert. I can’t differentiate between the challenges and obstacles a small business like The Reflector Newspaper (at that time) experiences compared to that of a large corporation that employs many, many more individuals. I’m also not professing to be an expert of the rewrite of the federal tax code approved by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week and I certainly have not read the bill’s 500 pages.
That said, I don’t think many of you have read those 500 pages either. And, I also don’t believe many of you have a much greater understanding of the intricacies of the tax plan than I do. But, because I have to read the thoughts of many of you on social media regarding the tax plan, I’m going to share some generic thoughts of my own in this space.
I am thankful there are folks out there, small sole proprietors like Marvin and Anne Case as well as large corporations, who employ the overwhelming majority of us who serve as employees throughout our lifetimes. With the exception of a four-year period when I worked as a Realtor, I’ve spent my entire adult life as someone else’s employee.
I am dependent on others to provide me a job, which provides me the income to have an automobile, to have a residence, to contribute to a family and others and to fulfill my role in a community. I don’t have an entrepreneurial bone in my body, so left to my own devices, I would likely starve, and I’m guessing many of you are similar to me in that way.
So, I don’t understand this aversion in our society to those who are wealthy. Why do so many resent them? Are we really that bitter that someone has something we don’t? Believe me, If I had their business acumen, their spirit of invention, whatever it is that they have and I lack, I wouldn’t lose any sleep at all about having more money than you. They’ve earned it. And, not only have they earned it, but they’re sharing their wealth with us by providing us with employment.
So, I’m mystified when I hear one of my liberal friends rail on about tax cuts to the rich. It’s the wealthy who employ us. It’s the wealthy who employ the hard-working folks who buy the goods and services in this country.
That said, there’s ample evidence if you’re willing to look that this tax plan isn’t just a tax cut for the wealthy. The Tax Policy Center, a private nonpartisan group, estimates that 80 percent of taxpayers will see a tax cut next year. It would double the standard deduction used by about two-thirds of U.S. households, to $24,000 for married couples. And the $1,000-per-child tax credit would double to $2,000, with up to $1,400 available in IRS refunds for families who owe little or not taxes.
A separate study by the Tax Policy Center indicated that individual taxes would be reduced on average next year by $1,600, a range of $60 for people earning below $25,000 tp $7,640 for those making above $149,000. Those in the top 1 percent (earning over $733,000, who employ most of us) would see average cuts of $51,140.
I know many of you will disagree will with me, and that’s fine, but I don’t mind it if the tax plan takes better care of our employers than it does us employees. There’s just something about getting a paycheck every two weeks that appeals to me.
For more information about the Republican tax plan, here’s a link to an informative story from PBS.org:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-gops-final-tax-plan
And, here’s a link to a video courtesy of the Wall Street Journal:
Video courtesy of Wall Street Journal • https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/tax-bill-2017
