“Born in the halls of money” should be an italicized first footnote of the new congressional tax plan. It could, as well, be placed as a disclaimer at the end of the slick commercials touting the plan’s benefits to the “average American family of four” — a windfall of $1,200 — which, the ad fails to say, will be eroded by the dropped deductions to average families, including student loans, high medical bills and state and local income taxes.
At the same time, the bill would eliminate the inheritance tax for the richest Americans (those with estates valued more than $5.5 million), resulting in $172 billion in lost tax revenue through the next decade, and a skyward spike to the national debt (with all the cuts projected to raise the debt more than $1.4 trillion in 10 years).
Where is conservative fiscal responsibility in all of this, and where is the fairness to most Americans? The Alternative Minimum Tax would also be scratched, a provision that has “prevented wealthy taxpayers from using loopholes to avoid paying taxes … and would cause a revenue shortfall of nearly $700 billion over 10 years” (Sun Journal, Nov. 8).
Born in the halls of money, for the halls of money, in the interests of unfairness and harm to our country will be the legacy of this tax bill.
It hurts all of us in some way — the hearts of those it falsely enriches — and the general well-being of everyone else.
Paul Baribault, Lewiston
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