When Tax Reform Hurts

GOP Tax Reform Helps the Wealthy

Not the Rest of US

The tax reform bill that squeaked through the House of Representatives this week drastically cuts taxes for the very wealthy and will add $1.5 Trillion to the federal debt over the next decade.  Those of us who work for a living did not fare so well.

People who use deductions and credits for housing state and local taxes, medical expenses and education costs will probably end up paying more in federal income taxes under the current plan.

Using old and unproven arguments, the GOP leadership cut the corporate tax rate on profits from 35% to 20%. Claims that this will lead to more jobs and higher wages do not hold water. What the corporate tax rate cut is much more likely to generate are increased dividends to stockholders and increased executive pay. Interestingly, about $70 billion a year, 35% of the benefits will flow directly to foreign investors who own shares in American companies, according to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Real estate partnerships, hedge funds and other business that pass profits through directly to owners untaxed will see significant benefits under the new bill. The GOP leadership wants those owners to pay just 25% on those profits instead of the ordinary income tax rates that go up to 39.6%. The Trump family is a prime example of the type of business owner invested in real estate that will see enormous tax cuts with this new benefit.

The secret backroom negotiations that led to the new code revisions hit middle-class families, especially those in high tax states, the hardest with the elimination of deductions for state and local income taxes, limiting the real estate property tax deduction to $10,000, capping the mortgage interest deduction at $500,000, elimination of deductions for medical expenses, college tuition and interest on student loans.

There are still more Trump family benefitting changes as well. The bill eliminates the alternative minimum tax now paid by wealthy people with lots of deductions. Trump’s leaked tax returns for 2005 show the vast majority of the taxes he paid in that year were based upon the alternative minimum tax. Of course, he has not revealed any of his other income tax returns so we can only speculate on the impact the new code provisions will have on his current business income stream based upon know investments. The other major benefit to Trump and his children is found in changes to the federal estate tax. That tax currently applies to inherited wealth over $5.5 million. The new bills exempt inherited wealth up to $11 million next year and phases out the tax completely by 2024. That single change will benefit just 0.2 percent of the people who die every year, but will cost the government $269 billion over a decade.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) claims that a middle-class family of four earning $59,000 per year will see tax savings of $1,182 per year under the new plan. Tax experts at New Your University Law School sees the claim as illusory because the cut will evaporate over a decade as several tax credits in the plan expire and inflation indexing changes take place. It is estimated that Ryan’s hypothetical family will see a tax increase by 2024. If the bill simply cut income or payroll taxes for middle class workers and doubled the standard deduction for individuals and married couples, it would be easy for the GOP to make their case for middle class tax relief. They rejected that simple approach.

Another current middle class tax benefit will vanish. Now, parents can claim personal exemptions for themselves, their spouses and dependent children. The new bill eliminates these exemptions in favor of a $300 personal credit for each parent. Even that expires in five years. For larger families, this clearly increases their federal income taxes.

The elimination of the medical expense deduction hits those with chronic illnesses and lousy medical insurance incredibly hard. If you have or make lots of money and can pay out-of pocket medical costs, you win. If you cannot, more of your paycheck vanishes to pay the doctor.

New polling on public reaction to the new plan shows that it is in trouble. A survey by Global Strategy Group in key states show that sixty percent believe the plan favors the wealthy over the middle class. Twenty percent believed they would personally see a benefit. Those responding to the survey voted for Trump by a 13-point margin.

Republicans in key states with high state and local taxes are on the fence as are those aligned with the construction industry that views mortgage interest rate deductions and property tax credits as keys to home ownership. If more Americans see the bill as a gift to those who do not need it and little to no benefit to those that do, it should fail.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a guardian for the elderly and disabled.

We Need Bi-partisan Solutions

What’s wrong with bi-partisan solutions?

Compromise produces solutions.

Ever since Newt Gingrich instituted the current GOP “take no prisoners” political strategy, bi-partisan solutions to the nation’s problems have gone nowhere.

Healthcare is the latest victim.

After the Senate failed in several attempts to repeal and replace Obamacare, President Trump issued an executive order purporting to end the subsidies paid to insurance companies that enabled lower premiums for coverage. The resulting outcry was swift and merciless.

Without the subsidies to make premiums affordable for millions of middle class folks, many would have to go without coverage. It turned out that as many as 70 percent of those receiving the subsidized premiums live in states that voted for Trump. Betrayal is a brutal political move.

Part of Trump’s message when he issued his order was that it was up to Congress to fix the problem. Congress is stuck. Not enough republicans can come to agreement on a fix. Ultra conservatives are still holding out for Obamacare repeal. GOP moderates are willing to look reality in the eye and reach across the aisle for help. Many democrats are stuck on a single payer, Medicare for All, plan and oppose anything less. Some are willing to cross the aisle to forge a short-term solution that at least maintains the status quo until a more comprehensive fix can be forged.

Enter Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) who put together a short term fix that would extend the premium subsidies for two years to keep people insured until a better plan can be enacted. It was a truly bi-partisan effort and gained co-sponsors from both parties, including one of our own Senators, Tammy Baldwin.

Trump initially supported the idea in phone calls with Sen. Alexander and public comments on Twitter, his favorite platform, and elsewhere. After pushback from those in the ultra-right like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and others, Trump appeared to switch course, claiming he could never support bailing out insurers.

It remains to be seen if the Murray-Alexander bill will command enough support to get out of the Senate and over to the House for a vote where it will have a much tougher row to hoe for passage. It does represent, at least, a ray of hope that bi-partisan solutions can still be found.

Our government works best when the people we elect to represent us are willing to compromise. We have a lot more in common and than our leaders think and are willing to recognize. Ideological purity is the single biggest impediment to progress and the ability to find solutions to common problems.

No single bloc in the American body politic commands a sufficient majority to exert total control over the reigns of government. Even with simple voting majorities in both houses of congress and a president of the same political party, republicans cannot command enough votes to advance an effective agenda. There is too much of a spread in the spectrum of the conservative right to get it done. Even with extreme gerrymandered congressional districts to support continued GOP rule, the spectrum spread will prevent a totally unified response to the issues we face.

It is time to put aside the labels of conservative, liberal, republican and democrat and to ask candidates who want to represent us in the halls of government how they plan to govern. Are you going to hew the party line or listen to all the voices? Are you going to seek real solutions to our common problems or let your personal preferences govern your decisions? Are you willing to work with all of your colleagues or just those in your party?

Our new era needs leaders committed to public service, not personal aggrandizement. They need to listen to the diverse voices of the nation, not just their isolated constituents. The need to work to see   the pressing issues of our time, not merely to align them with their own world view, but in a way that allows for input from all points of view to find a workable solution.

It is easy to stake out a position and claim its validity to the world. It is much harder to consistently re-examine that position in light of new facts or arguments and to be able to admit you were wrong and change your mind. We deserve leaders and representatives who are up to that challenge and willing to embrace it wholeheartedly.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a guardian for the elderly and disabled.

Enough is Enough

Enough Carnage

Guns are a Public Health Menace

When is enough gun-inflicted carnage sufficient for American lawmakers to ignore the bribery from the NRA and other purist 2^nd Amendment groups and enact sensible reforms to limit access to firearms whose purpose is to kill people? 

To listen to most republican leaders and even some democrats, the answer is, unfortunately, not yet. 

As of October 1^st, data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive tells us that in the past 1,735 days there have been 1,516 mass shootings in the United States. That averages one shooting that injured or killed four or more people in nine out of every ten days. At least 1,715 people were killed and over 6,000 were injured in those shootings.

Is that enough? Evidently not.

Las Vegas is but the latest in the string of American mass executions that has failed to move Congress into action. The carnage inflicted by unregulated fully automatic weapons left 58 dead, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. History. What we got from Congress were empty thoughts and prayers.

What do we know about American gun violence from a public health perspective? Very little. This is primarily because Congress, at the bidding of its death-dealing lobbyist masters, has prohibited the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) from conducting research on the pubic health implications of gun violence. 

The CDC can study and make recommendations on every other public health menace, but it cannot even look at why Americans are obsessed with guns or why so many are used to maim and kill. 

Studies conducted by universities and medical researchers shed some light on the death walking our streets untouched. 

The Guardian recently published 17 charts reflecting some of that research. Here are some of the important conclusions.

1. America has six times as many firearm homicides as Canada and 16 times as many as Germany. A Harvard study indicates the increased rate is primarily due to the number of guns in circulation in the U.S., 
2. America has 4.4% of the world’s population and almost half of the civilian owned guns on the planet. They have not made us safer.
3. Under a broader definition, there is more than one mass shooting each day in America. We are told in the aftermath of each that then is not the appropriate time to talk about gun violence. Under this rationale, it is never the right time to talk about gun violence. 
4. Multiple studies show developed countries and U. S. states with more guns have more gun deaths. 
5. States with tighter gun control laws have fewer gun related deaths. Epidemiologists looked at the worldwide research and concluded that with new gun regulations comes a drop in gun violence.
6. Even though mass shooting incidents are horrific and command attention, a majority of gun deaths are suicides, not homicides. Suicide researchers have demonstrated that greater access to guns dramatically increases the risk of suicide. 
7. The states with the most guns report the most suicides. Guns allow people to kill themselves much more easily. It follows that limiting access to guns reduces the number of suicides. An Australian study demonstrated that buying back 3,500 guns per 100,000 people correlated with a 50 percent drop in firearm homicides and a 74 percent drop in gun suicides.
8. In states with more guns, more police officers are killed on duty. The American Journal of Public Health study supports this conclusion. Every 10% increase in gun ownership correlated with 10 more officers being shot on duty.
9. Mass shootings have done little to change public opinion about gun ownership. Most still support gun rights. 
10. Specific gun control measures are fairly popular. 89% support preventing the mentally ill from buying guns. Over 80% support not letting those on no fly lists buy guns. Over 70% support background checks for gun show and private gun sales. More than 50% would ban assault weapons. A similar number support a federal database tracking gun sales. 

Other public health menaces that killed or maimed have brought swift legislative responses even though opposed by powerful lobbyists.

In 1980, the MGM Grand Hotel in Law Vegas caught fire killing 85 and injuring more than 500. What followed were stricter fire codes, improved construction and building safety regulations. 

The Tylenol tampering scare in 1982 led to and immediate recall and prompt implementation of sealing procedures we now take for granted even though far fewer were killed.

Horrific roadway accidents led to seat belts, automobile safety regulations, texting while driving laws and other highway safety measures. 

When is enough carnage enough? I’ve had enough. Have you? Call your lawmakers and write them letters. End it now.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a guardian for the elderly and disabled.

Graham-Cassidy will Kill People

Trumpcare 3.0 will kill people

Single-payer deserves consideration

Just when you thought that the health insurance you could finally afford under the Affordable Care Act was finally safe, two heartless and downright cruel Senators bring up one last repeal and replace bill with the sole justification being, “that’s what we campaigned on.”

The latest edition of Trumpcare 3.0 is decidedly worse than any of its predecessors when measured by the damage done to the 25-35 million people stripped of health insurance, those stripped of basic healthcare all together and the families who will have to pick up the care costs for their young, disabled or elderly parents. All this on top of further restrictions on reproductive healthcare and reductions in other healthcare programs for women

The Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill is being ramrodded through the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who will stop at nothing to undo everything the Black former president put together. They need to get it done before the end of next week when the Senate rules revert back to a 60 “yes” vote requirement for any bill to pass.

Putting the bill together behind closed doors with no public, much less Democratic, input or review, it is being cast as a choice between states rights and the dreaded socialism of the government run single-payer Medicare for All healthcare system gaining increased public support daily. It is being rushed to a vote, before the Congressional Budget office can complete its review and provide the impartial numbers on the damage it will do and the costs involved. It is a true pig in a poke.

What we know is that Graham-Cassidy will roll back Medicaid expansion that gave 14 million Americans health insurance coverage for the first time. The rest of Medicaid, care for the elderly in nursing homes, the disabled, young people in poverty and others, will also be trimmed and converted into lump sum payments to the states with insignificant controls on how each spends the funds allotted creating 50 different healthcare systems for the sickest and most vulnerable. The savings will go to fund GOP tax cuts for the wealthiest and corporations who need them the least.

With insurers being allowed to charge sick people more, health insurance premiums for those still covered will skyrocket. With the elimination of required coverage for pre-existing conditions, the cost of insurance will quickly rise to levels that most Americans cannot afford. One analysis puts surcharges, in addition to the regular premiums, for opioid addicts and those with rheumatoid arthritis at $20,000, $50,000 more for those with serious heart conditions, and over $140,000 for those with metastatic cancer. Another puts a $4500 surcharge on asthmatics, $17,300 on pregnancy and a $72,000 bump on lung cancer.

The state block grants would punish the Democratic states that took Medicaid expansion dollars and reward the GOP states that did not. States receiving the grants will be allowed to apply for waivers from many of the Affordable Care Act requirements that the bill does not repeal directly. If you need a service not covered, you will have to pay for it. ACA premium subsidies will be phased out by 2020. The slow death of federal healthcare funding will continue to 2027 when all federal dollars for the nation’s health will cease.

The deadlines for figuring out your insurance for next year loom. Insurers must sign final contracts for 2018 by the end of next week. If ACA subsidies vanish next year, premiums will explode.  ACA enrollment starts November 1^st. The new bill will eliminate the requirement for everyone to have insurance or pay a penalty. With that gone, many believing themselves to be healthy might not buy insurance at all. That too will drive up premiums as insurers scramble to cover a larger pool of sick people with fewer premium dollars.

Even with the developmental secrecy, negative reaction to the latest

Trumpcare has been swift and severe. Governors from both parties have condemned the bill. The American Medical Association, AARP, the America Hospital Association, most of the major disability advocacy groups, and representatives from just about every significant healthcare organization have urged Congress to reject the bill. Health insurers oppose it too. All 50 of the state Medicare directors oppose it too.

The three holdout GOP Senators’ objections to Trumpcare 1.0 and 2.0 have not been addressed in the new legislation. Hopefully, they will continue to stand up for their constituents like all of the Democrats in the Senate who will vote “no.”

This bill must fail, paving the way for serious consideration of a universal single payer system similar to those used for decades by most of the countries on the rest of the planet. It is time to stop the madness spawned by hatred of all things Obama and for bi-partisan solutions for America’s health.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired attorney and serves as a guardian for the disabled and the elderly.

Protect the Dreamers

Protect the Dreamers

No Hate Allowed Here

Immigration reform has been a hot button issue since people started travelling to new places. We are a nation of immigrants and those who settled here in the first instance would claim that all those who came after them and took their lands are here illegally. We white folks settled those claims in the Indian Wars of the 1800s by brute force and genocide, but never you mind that part of our history.

The current effort to rid our shores of brown skinned immigrants was announced with a smirk by Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions this week. President Trump made the call, but left it to Sessions to announce the decision and he did so gleefully.

Former president Obama tried without success to fix immigration in Congress, but the republican majority prevented a comprehensive fix. As a last resort, President Obama implemented DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, to tackle what appeared to be an easy part of the problem. He protected the Dreamers, kids who were brought to our shores by parents who entered this country without proper documents.

DACA made it possible for the Dreamers to remain under certain conditions. Almost 800,000 received DACA protected status because they met conditions that include registration, proof of entry while a minor with parents without documentation, educational attainment or military service and lack of a criminal record. They paid a hefty fee for the privilege to boot. As adults with a protected status, they are productive members of our communities.

The average DACA recipient is 26 years old and came here at the age of six. Ninety-one percent are gainfully employed. One hundred percent have no criminal record. They pay $500 to renew their status every two years. One, a Houston paramedic, died rescuing people in his flooded city after Hurricane Harvey.

With the stroke of a pen, the Trump/Sessions administration took away DACA protection for these neighbors of ours, subjecting them to easy incarceration and deportation, unless Congress acts to solve the problem by next March.

The GOP controlled Congress has not been able to pass a single piece of significant legislation yet. Internal divisions between ultra conservative members of the Freedom caucus and more moderate GOP pragmatists have prevented House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from advancing a budget, passing healthcare reform, or much of anything else. Tax code reform bills are next, along with funding the wall on our southern border, infrastructure repair and natural disaster relief measures. With all this on the congressional plate, and little GOP interest in talking with Democrats, comprehensive immigration reform or even protection for the Dreamers appears well beyond the horizon for consideration in this short period of time.

Make no mistake. This move is just another of the racially motivated actions by those currently in power to Make America White Again. Trump’s rhetoric and actions increasingly appeal to those white Anglo-Saxon evangelical racists who voted for him as he tries to shore up his political base against the rising tide of opposition from those in both parties and the Independent middle who fear further erosion of our democracy.

Former President Obama took the unusual step of weighing in on President Trump’s action and concluded his condemnation of it with the following:

“Ultimately, this is about basic decency. This is about whether we are a people who kick hopeful young strivers out of America, or whether we treat them the way we’d want our own kids to be treated. It’s about who we are as a people – and who we want to be.

“What makes us American is not a question of what we look like, or where our names come from, or the way we pray. What makes us American is our fidelity to a set of ideals – that all of us are created equal; that all of us deserve the chance to make of our lives what we will; that all of us share an obligation to stand up, speak out, and secure our most cherished values for the next generation. That’s how America has traveled this far. That’s how, if we keep at it, we will ultimately reach that more perfect union.”

We must protect the Dreamers just like many Germans did when they hid the Jews from Hitler’s thugs. We must stand up for our neighbors, friends and co-workers who share in the American Dream. Hate, prejudice and discrimination must not be allowed to triumph.

Waring R. Fincke is a retired lawyer who serves as a guardian for minors, the elderly and disabled.