They’re not even trying anymore. The CBO is out, and all that bullshit Paul Ryan and the rest of the GOP have been shoveling our direction about much-needed tax breaks for the middle class and the poor? Yeah, they’re done lying about that.

But we could still do our taxes on a postcard.

Never mind that we only still file taxes because Intuit and H & R Block lobby so that it continues. Doing our taxes could be free and simple. The IRS already has the info.

Our state taxes will be taxed. Our graduate school will be taxed. Our medical expenses will be taxed. Our contributions to charities will be taxed. Teacher’s school supplies will be taxed. Our health insurance premiums will go way up. They’re taking from Medicare, possibly from Medicaid, and I hear Social Security may be on the block, too. Those of us with the least to give, the people who need the breaks the most, will pay to give a gift to those who already have so much they don’t know what to do with all their money.

There is literally NOTHING in this “tax reform” bill for anyone but the wealthy. We just get to pay for it for them.

And the rich assholes we’re gifting our income, our health insurance, and our children’s futures to? What happens when they kick the bucket and leave millions behind? They give some back, right? No. Their kids get it all, tax-free.

But you and I have to pay taxes on our state taxes.

We can, however, deduct our private jet upkeep and maintenance.

Small government my ass. This has nothing to do with keeping government small and everything to do with taking from the poor to give to the rich.

“My donors are basically saying, ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me again,'” Chris Collins (R-NY) told reporters at The Hill. There. He said it. Out loud.

Yep, not even trying to lie. They’re just laying it all out there: the tax cut is for them and their rich friends. If you make less than $100,000 per year (in other words, if you’re one of the people who NEEDS a break on your taxes) you don’t get one of these temporary tax cuts at all, but you still get to pay for the gift to the fat cats. Even those who get a small, temporary tax break in the $100-200k-ish bracket will be paying much more out in exchange.

Oh, and blah blah “trickle-down” yaddah yadda. Because that’s worked out so well every fucking time we’ve tried it before. <eyeroll>

I’ve talked about our responsibilities to each other many times, but I got to thinking about what a huge chunk of money this gift is to our wealthiest and to businesses (the tax changes are permanent for them – after all, they’re the ones paying for the lobbying). What would I do if I got to decide, or help decide, where American’s tax money is spent? We do, after all, pay in so that our funds are pooled to benefit us all with roads, police and fire protection, Social Security, Medicaid for those who need it, Medicare so we have health coverage when we’re old, unemployment insurance, military, clean air and water, public parks, sewer services, etc.

It’s our money so where might I put it? In no particular order:

• health insurance coverage for all
• college tuition (grants or discounts or reimbursement) for public colleges if students maintain high enough GPA
• replace the water pipes that are poisoning our citizens with lead
• research gun violence, find ways to prevent injuries/deaths
• research – the unglamorous stuff that we still need to do to improve our lives and our health
• daycare/job training/community projects to help keep kids out of trouble and lift people out of poverty, stop the cycle of poverty
• sex ed. and free/affordable birth control for young people who need it
• what infrastructure needs repairs – bridges? tunnels? highways?
• housing/job training for our homeless veterans, whatever they need
• help for flood victims in Puerto Rico, Texas, US Virgin Islands, etc.
• find locations for and build clean power plants – water, solar, windmills
• get away from private contractors for military and prisons
• obviously, I’d keep tax deductions for child care, interest on mortgage at primary residence, charitable donations, school supplies, adoptions, cost of installing solar panels, etc.

We’re going to need to raise the minimum wage and get the E.R.A. passed and such to make permanent improvements, but a lot of this stuff would cost some up front and then save huge down the line – the health care, the education, etc. Just getting money into the right hands, the hands of those who’ll spend it, and keeping a steady flow (from working) would go a long way toward keeping our businesses healthy and growing. And that means more and better jobs.

Imagine employers not having to deal with health care stuff? And imagine more educated, healthy citizens to work and pay taxes in high brackets?

Where would you put it so that we get the most back for our investment?

CALL your Senators. Today. Tell them to vote “no” on their tax bill. 202.224.3121

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Links and tidbits:

Link: “5 times Republicans admitted they work for rich donors” – by Kali Holloway of AlterNet via Salon

Link: “More than 400 millionaires tell Congress: Don’t cut our taxes” – by Heather Long at The Washington Post

Link: “The Biggest Tax Scam in History” – by Paul Krugman for The New York Times

Link: “Senate GOP tax bill hurts the poor more than originally thought, CBO finds” – by Heather Long at The Washington Post

Link: “CBO: Senate tax bill would hurt poor” – by Mallory Shelbourne at The Hill (intentionally added second link on same story because this publication, The Hill, is conservative – they say the same thing as The Washington Post)

Link: “It Started as a Tax Cut. Now It Could Change American Life.” – by Peter S. Goodman and Patricia Cohen at The New York Times. This one brings up some of the strange bits added in to the bill including the ban on church activism and legal rights for a fetus – women can’t have rights but bundles of cells residing as a parasite in a host woman can? Yeah, bizarre. I’m not kidding when I say this bill is bad.

Link: “Trump’s Tax Promises Undercut by CEO Plans to Help Investors” – by Toluse Olorunnipa at Bloomberg (edited to include this link)

Photo in the “trickle-down” meme by Dorothea Lange.

I’m aware the figure $99 billion is an estimate, and it’ll change before it gets through both houses, that is, if we let it happen. It was a place to start for this post.

And this figure will likely change, too, but I read where the current GOP tax bill will add $1.4 trillion to the deficit.

And why should they lie about it now?  They know that we know it’s a big fuck you to America, taking from everyone making less than $100,000 per year and giving it to those who need it the least. They intend to pass the bill anyway, leaving American in even more debt and pushing us into another recession (when we’ve not recovered from the last one).

#99Billion #GOPTaxScam