Plan of action - april 27, 2017

Taxation

Trump, as you know, has come up with some proposals to simplify and reduce taxes. These ideas are not all bad - for example, doubling the standard deduction. However, the plan would help the rich far more than lower- and moderate-income families. The Tax Policy center estimates that the top wealthiest 1% of households would enjoy a 14% increase in after-tax income, while the increase in income for  low- and moderate-income households would be less than 2%.

The plan, moreover, does not pay for itself; it is estimated that the ticket price of this tax overhaul would be trillions of dollars, with only a vague promise of future revenue from all the pie-in-the-sky economic growth which the cuts are supposed to stimulate. This plan for growth is classic supply side economics, which falls somewhere in between highly dubious and debunked.  Nuriel Roubini of the NYU Stern School of Business has said:

[T]he verdict from history and empirical evidence is quite clear. Supply side economics is "voodoo economics". Reductions in tax rates (starting from initial moderate tax rate levels) do not siginificantly increase labor supply and savings, do not increase economic growth, do not raise total tax revenue and do not reduce budget deficits. Their likely effect on the level and growth rate on output is close to zero while they lead to significantly larger budget deficits.
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Action:

Call your Member of Congress to say that you reject Trump’s tax proposals as being founded in  “voodoo economics.”

If you like, you could also send a postcard to that effect.


House contact information: www.house.gov