The Idiot Factor: Corruption Folly : Estes uses bogus statistics to make false claims about tax cuts for all classes

Sunday, March 03, 2019

Estes uses bogus statistics to make false claims about tax cuts for all classes

By SJ Otto

One thing I have learned to count on is The Wichita Eagle, posting the opinions of various Republican liars. This week it was our very own 4rth district Representative Ron Estes, known to me as the “what?! Me work?!” kid. He started out his career putting very little effort into getting elected and that moderate amount of effort was all he needed in a largely Republican district.

As with his other fellow Republican, when the facts don’t match his opinion, he simply lies. His article this week was “Changes in tax law put more in your pocket year-round.”

Estes said:

“It’s hard to ignore the left as they rail against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – the legislation that updated a decades-old, burdensome tax code with lower rates and simpler filings.

Who can forget then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calling $1,000 savings for middle-income families “crumbs” and lower tax rates “Armageddon?” Or Bernie Sanders saying that the “federal treasury is being looted” by allowing Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money?”

None of these Democrats have said exactly what Estes implied they said. Some Democrats have called for higher taxes on the wealthy. But none have complained about giving tax breaks to the middle income earners and certainly none (or at least most) have complained about giving tax breaks for the poor. That is largely because the poor never get tax breaks from the Republicans. That leads to another lie:

“The fact is, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act benefited everyday Americans, including those right here in Kansas. We doubled the child tax credit. We nearly doubled the standard deduction. We lowered tax rates for all Americans. Yes. All Americans.

He couldn’t be more wrong. First of all, there are the tax deductions eliminated that affect a lot of people at the lower end of the income scale. According to US News and World Report:

While some crucial tax breaks might return after some provisions of the tax law expire in 2025, here are 12 tax deductions that disappeared this year:

The standard $6,350 deduction.
Personal exemptions.
Unlimited state and local tax deductions.
A $1 million mortgage interest deduction.
An unrestricted deduction for home equity loan interest.
Deductions for unreimbursed employee expenses.
Miscellaneous itemized deductions.
A deduction for moving expenses.
Unrestricted casualty loss deduction.
Alimony deduction.
Deductions for certain school donations.
Deductions from tax extenders.

Another dirty trick? Many of the middle class tax cuts are only temporary. After five years, they’re gone. According to CNN:

“The Tax Institute at H&R Block provided some scenarios of people with young children, for instance, who could see their tax burden drop by roughly $2,000 or more next year.

But here's the thing: After 2025, all individual tax cuts are set to expire. At the same time, corporate rate cuts are made permanent under the bill.”

So the wealthy people get to keep their tax cuts, the middle class have to give them up after five years. Those items counter Estes’ claim that we all got a tax break. In general he tries to credit his party and president with fixing the economy. In his article he wrote:

“For the first time ever, our economy has more job openings than job seekers, while our unemployment rate of 4 percent is around the lowest level in 50 years. Unemployment rates for minorities are at their lowest levels in history.

At the same time, wages are rising at the fastest pace in a decade.”

The Republican Party has worked hard to erase benefits and keep income low for the last 30 years. One area where they have been successful is in destroying unions. Since they have broken many unions across the country, over the last 30 years, they have affected wages and benefits for all workers. Since unions have not been successful in raising wages, other non-union workers have also lost buying power. For example, “An economic study by AFL-CIO economist Greg Woodward found a sharp 10 % drop in real wages between 1980 and 1990 for US workers.”[1] That was during Ronald Reagan’s years as president, followed by the fist part of the George W. Bush’s years. For most of the next 30 years Republicans have dominated the government and their anti-union policies have had dramatic affects on the economy. So wages have not kept up with all the other great numbers, including a rise in employment. The economy is doing well, but wages have dragged behind in economic spending power.

Who knows if Estes really wrote that article or paid someone else to write it? Either way, it has the usual lies we get now a days from Republicans. Estes is just one more liar taking his cues from Donald Trump.