The minute Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady (R-TX) explained the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), it was love at first sight for me. Republicans had finally decided to pass a stimulative and permanent tax cut that would truly help the middle class by helping the businesses that employ them (and provide retirement and healthcare benefits).
As a purely political matter, the TCJA exposed Democrats as a petulant out-party, because not one voted for the tax cuts (and we all know why). Isn’t it odd no Democrat thought this just might work? By and large, Democrats tried to mislead the middle class by calling the tax cuts a boon to the rich and crumbs for the middle class. And, it’s not like Brady was talking over their heads, because soaring stock indices predicted the economic boost.
It is undeniable unemployment decreased, GDP growth increased, and 401K values are higher – or that Democrats are engaged in a 2020 deception campaign. Bernie Sanders belittles today’s economy as “great for billionaires, not for working people.” Nancy Pelosi cries “the rich get richer, and everyone else is stuck paying the bill.” Is it just me, or does this timeworn spin bore you to tears?
According to the US Census bureau, working-class Americans benefitted from the TCJA. Between 2017 and 2018, the economy added 2.3 million more full-time employees working year-round. Because a net 1.4 million Americans left poverty, the poverty rate fell from 12.3% to 11.8%. And, while the nation’s top 20% experienced an income decline, incomes rose substantially for the bottom 80%. Obviously, Sanders is out of touch.
If Pelosi thinks the middle class is unaware of rising household incomes, she’s nuts – because median incomes have grown from $61,000 in 2016 to $66,000 this year. That’s a $5,000 increase: compared to a $400 increase in Bush’s eight years and $1,043 in Obama’s eight years. Call me old fashioned, but $5000 is a lot of “crumbs” in most households (using Pelosi’s metrics).
There is more good news for taxpayers: a presidential order went into effect this month, limiting government employees from doing union work on the taxpayer’s dime. The annual subsidy cost for federal employee unions is $180 million, and government workers spend 3.6 million hours on union business (source: Office of Personal Management). The Veteran’s Administration exemplifies the financial abuse.
Every year, VA employees spend over 1.1 million hours on union matters (no wonder veterans wait so long for healthcare). Moreover, hundreds of VA healthcare providers are engaged full-time in union business. From now on, federal union members must pay for their own office space and use their own funds to work on union matters – just like GM workers.
It is a matter of fairness to the middle class, whose incomes rise because of their work contributions and their company’s results. An improving economy is central to their household income, as well as to their retirement benefits. Moreover, there should be no great advantage for middle-class government employees. Just like workers in the for-profit sector, they need to paddle their own dad-gummed canoes!