A tax cut from former President Donald Trump’s term in office is set to expire at the end of next year — Congress must act to keep that from happening.
According to the Tax Policy Center, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — passed in 2017 — resulted in 65 percent of American households paying less individual income tax in 2018 while 6 percent of households paid more and the remaining 29 percent paid about the same amount.
In providing a summary of the act’s impact, the Tax Foundation said, “The TCJA reduced average tax burdens for taxpayers across the income spectrum and temporarily simplified the tax filing process through structural reforms. It also boosted capital investment by reforming the corporate tax system and significantly improved the international tax system.”
To be more specific regarding who these cuts impacted, Chris Edwards of the Cato Institue stated, “lower‐ and middle‐income groups received the largest relative individual income tax cuts.”
This all seems pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? Congress must act. Surely neither party would actually advocate for a tax hike. Disappointingly, these cuts were not spared partisan quarrelling as President Biden‘s campaign team for the 2020 election mislead the public about their impact.
The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler reported in 2019 that then-former Vice President Biden told a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, “There’s a $2 trillion tax cut last year. Did you feel it? Did you get anything from it? Of course not. Of course not. All of it went to folks at the top and corporations.”
The Biden campaign parroted this falsehood, with spokesman Andrew Bates saying, “Joe Biden is committed to reversing the Republican tax plan because it is overwhelmingly a giveaway to the wealthy and big corporations that hard-working families can’t afford.”
The Biden campaign invoked the usual leftist “tax the rich” motto, without an inkling of reality behind their criticism. Biden thought before 2020 he could mislead working-class and middle-class families who were benefiting from the cuts, so he could get their vote.
Let’s play devil’s advocate for a moment.
Do tax cuts result in economic growth?
What about revenues that will be collected should the cuts expire? Given the deficit and inflation, it may be time to take the bitter medicine, let them expire, and hope for some reversal of fortunes.
According to the Cato Institute, in 2021 revenues had actually gone up since the passage of Trump’s cuts. Statista reported total receipts for the federal government added up to $4.44 trillion dollars in 2023. This number is projected to rise to $6.8 trillion by 2029.
Additionally, we must also consider how these cuts benefit the individual. A cut seems pretty self-explanatory, but it bears elaborating. Allowing people to keep their own money empowers them as individuals. The families benefiting from these cuts can invest and save. Higher income individuals can invest in businesses. Both can spur economic growth.
But what about inflation?
The American people are already taking the aforementioned “bitter medicine” to combat inflation via high interest rates.
It also cannot be said enough that Congress does not have a stellar record spending the money it already has. The American people are constantly let down as the border remains wide open while billions flow to foreign governments.
All things considered: We must extend these cuts.
Contact your congressman. Advocate for their extension. Do not be misled about their benefits!
