Skip to main content

Today's Poll: Who do you think will benefit most from the GOP tax plans?

By Howard B. Owens
Dave Meyer

This trickle down bull$hit economics has NEVER worked. Worse yet, the economy is in good shape, we are at full employment, what are the republicans trying to stimulate??
And yet they persist, adding $1.5Trillion (that’s with a T folks) to the national debt.
This will do NOTHING for the average household, but it will be great for the trumps of the world.

Nov 28, 2017, 7:59pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Trickle down never works -- it just helped free up the capital investors used to help create the Internet as we know it.

That said, it's not enough to say trickle down doesn't work, or it does ... tax policy is context dependent, just as debt spending is context dependent. Tax cuts and more spending can help boost growth during recessions. They can spur inflation and bubbles during economic good times.

Tax policy -- for or against -- based on ideology is never wise.

Nov 28, 2017, 9:12pm Permalink
Rich Richmond

Good points, Howard No Country in the history of the world has ever taxed itself into prosperity. Trickle down can work provided our elected officials cut spending and don't continue to grow government.

Nov 28, 2017, 9:25pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Rich, in the 1960s, the only decade in U.S. history with positive GDP growth every year and the largest single-decade GDP growth, the top marginal tax rate was more than 70 percent (90 percent to start the decade) and the corporate rate was more than 50 percent.

When some say, "Make America Great Again," the 1960s might have been when we were at our greatest economically.

I'm not ideological about taxes or spending. Raising taxes and lowerings taxes both have economic consequences and whether those consequences are positive for U.S. residents or a negative depends entirely on the economic conditions at the time of the cuts or increases. Same with spending. Deficit spending makes sense during a recession. The time to reduce spending and raise taxes is during good times so you can build a reserve to bank for the next lean period and prevent inflation. During lean times, cut taxes and increase spending to spur economic growth.

Nov 28, 2017, 10:51pm Permalink
Dave Meyer

Well said Howard. It’s safe to say that the economy is relatively strong right now so rather than cutting taxes, now would be a great time to REALLY reform the tax code (as opposed to the abomination that’s being proposed) to MAKE SURE that it is as fair as possible for both individuals and corporations.
It’s an established fact that corporations are sitting on a ton of cash right now. Do they need a tax cut? I say NO.
The national debt is the greatest threat to our national security. I could support a tax increase to pay down the debt.

Nov 29, 2017, 10:29am Permalink
John Roach

Howard, a short note on the 1960's tax cut. It was President Kennedy that pushed that cut. After 1945, the end of WW II, the United States was the big dog. Our country had not suffered any of the destruction the other countries suffered and our industries were in full swing. We could tax and spend as we wanted and capital had few places it could go.

President Kennedy saw that was changing. Europe and Japan were recovering by then and money had other places it could go. He knew we needed to make changes and time was not on our side. President Kennedy's tax cut and some other reforms set the stage for the economy who described. He does not get the credit he deserved for that.

Nov 29, 2017, 11:09am Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

John. When you wrote, "Our country had not suffered any of the destruction the other countries suffered ...", I'm hoping you didn't mean to discount the approx. 418,000 American deaths, not to mention the 670000+ wounded Americans.

And, of course, we probably shouldn't overlook the U.S. Merchant Marine losses (non-combat ships), where a total of 1,554 ships were sunk due to war conditions.

Add to that, the 708 American military ships, boats, landing craft, etc. which were destroyed in WW2. While I'm at it, I may as well throw in the destruction of (approximately) 95,000 American aircraft, the (approx.) 10,000 American tanks, self-propelled guns and tank destroyers...

On top of all of that, there's the "human tragedies", the agony suffered by millions of American friends and family members that worried about their loved one's safety.

To say our country didn't suffer "any of the destruction the other countries suffered" is being a little disingenuous. I can only assume you meant the destruction of buildings and such.

Nov 29, 2017, 1:42pm Permalink
John Roach

Ed, I thought you would have been smart enough to figure out I mean our country was not bombed out, overrun and burned out like many of the others.

Our factories and farms were not destroyed. That is why we were the economic powerhouse from 1946 to the early 1960's that we were. There was nobody else. But as time went on of course, that started to change as other countries rebuilt.

Nov 29, 2017, 2:02pm Permalink

Authentically Local