Pending Tax Reform

Congressional Republicans finally reached a deal on the tax cuts, the biggest reform in 30 years. This sets the stage for a vote next week. The U.S. corporate tax rate was changed upward moving to 21%. The top[ tax rate will be reduced marginally from 39.6% to 37%.

The corporate alternative minimum tax will probably be repealed. The proposed $10,000 cap for state and local property tax deductions should survive and the cap on mortgage interest deductions will be set at $750,000 on home loans, and provide the owners of pass-through businesses with a tax rate of 20%.

Of course, the criticism from Democrats is the typical Marxist slant that the Republican plan benefits the rich and corporations rather than the middle class. Small business employs 70% of the civil workforce and that is the engine that creates jobs. The top rate moves down from 39.6^ to just 36%, so that is nothing to write home about, yet the Democrats will do so anyway.

The criticism from Democrats that the tax bill will benefit corporations is classic. What they fail to mention is that who is the biggest holder of corporate shares? PENSION FUNDS! So who gets the benefit? Predominantly the Middle Class – not the rich.

The deal would gut part of the Obamacare health law by repealing a federal fine on individuals who fail to obtain health insurance. That is a major benefit to the youth who the Democrats have devastated. It was the Clintons who eliminated the right to go bankrupt on Student Loans, and then Obama put in the fine upon the youth if they refused to buy healthcare. The youth have been abused by the Democrats on a wholesale basis.

The final bill could be announced on Friday, with the final vote expected next week in both chambers.

The vote in the Senate will be tight. The Republicans hold a 52-48 majority. They cannot lose more than two votes on the tax bill. While Senator John McCain was in a military hospital to undergo treatment for the side effects of cancer therapy, the two Republicans whose careers could be ended if they reject the bill such as Arizona’s Jeff Flake.