Spinning tax reform

LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson

Political spinning can whirl a positive into a negative with the ease of gravitational-like pull, and no one is better at it than the left in league with its big media brethren. Liberals spin; the media shapes.

Emerging now is President Trump’s push for tax reform. Tax code reshaping is favored generally by those paying the bills, but for the left the status quo is dandy. Liberals love high taxes and yearn for more.

Tax cuts and reforms are a tried-and-true economic stimulant. When accomplished by JFK in the ’60s and Reagan in the ’80s, the economy swelled, unemployment dropped and prosperity spread. There has been no significant tax reform in more than 30 years, but Trump has pushed to the forefront what Obama ignored while Congress took to the hammock.

Tax reform will increase cash flow in the public sector. People with more disposable income will spend more, invest more, and reduce debt. Businesses with more resources will expand more rapidly and will hire more workers. More people working means more revenue flowing to the Treasury.

As you can see, this isn’t rocket science. More money in people’s pockets simply means more economic activity and security. Ditto businesses and industries.

Now, the left will do anything to keep Donald Trump from succeeding. Conservative success suggests liberal failure; therefore, most if not all Dems will vote against tax reform no matter how helpful it is to citizens. Observe liberals’ opposition and note their reasons for it.

The dilemma for the left is how to offset a venture that is publicly popular and overdue. Plus, next year is an election year, which is especially significant for the Senate. Those voting against tax reform have not done well historically.

What to do?

This is where spin comes in. Spin is designed to turn a politically unfavorable (though popular) situation into one that is. Truth is optional.

As the tax plan unfolds, the left will scorn it but also frame it within their customary class warfare picture.

A spin I am hearing already is how there is nothing in the plan for the middle class. That isn’t true with the proposal as it now stands. The standard deduction would nearly double to $12,000 for singles and $24,000 for couples. Tax credits per child will rise substantially and there is a new tax credit of $300 per adult in a family. Obviously, those changes would benefit those in the middle class.

The left will also present its same old argument on how tax reform is for Trump’s wealthy cronies, but, reportedly, 70 percent of all income tax is currently paid by those in the highest brackets. Indeed, the story promulgated by the left that successful people don’t pay their fair share is false. Rich people do not make their own tax policy. Government does, and people pay what they are told to pay.

“Tax cuts for the rich” is what we will have to listen to, but successful people are Americans too. I have no problem with reducing the tax rate on high income people for the sake of fairness and balance. Some reductions will be offset in part by changes in deductions anyway.

Liberals will explain how upset they are at the possibility of increasing the deficit and the compilation of debt. The fact is the debt more than doubled in just eight years of the Obama administration. Liberals weren’t concerned then. They didn’t offer tax or spending reductions to combat the debt. Their expressions of concern are as phony as a Clinton alibi.

More revenue generated by an expanding economy could be used to reduce deficit and debt. It’s up to the government in control of the federal budget, isn’t it?

The left loves to blather about corporate welfare and the many loopholes companies slip through. What they don’t mention is said loopholes are allowed by government which makes tax policy. Corporations do not write their own tax laws. Some of the politicians complaining about loopholes are the same ones who allowed them in the first place.

American corporations function under one of the highest tax rates in the world. Tax reductions are needed to keep this country competitive and to encourage the growth of new businesses which happen to employ a lot of people who need jobs.

Remember, these are the left’s complaints: 1) Nothing for the middle class; 2) Tax cuts are for the rich and Trump’s cronies; 3) Tax cuts will do little but explode the deficit and debt; and 4) Corporate welfare.

All are distorted, politicized and spun like new butter, but it is in our personal and national interest to support tax reform and those who want to get it done. Let’s do that.

Larry W. Anderson is a retired educator, author and Bearcat.