and what was Trump's? giving tax cuts to the extremely wealthy, whose relative wealth, vis-a-vis the bottom 99%, was already at its highest point in HISTORY.. meanwhile, he chalks up the highest deficits known to mankind, but the Republicans don't care anymore. that used to be the center piece of their platform, to REDUCE deficit spending.
at least Obama gave healthcare to many who didn't have it.. Trump lied, and said he would "fix' Obamacare, "repeal and replace" and create a better healthcare system. bullshit. his only goal is to destroy every morsel of Obamacare, and replace with nothing. not a single God Damn word during his whole tenure, about a thought to provide healthcare to those who aren't on Employer-based plans. he threw a bone to the veterans, the right to choose their own Doctors. but fuck everybody else..
Originally Posted by Chung Tran
I'm relatively well off, and Trump's tax policies made me poorer. The biggest winners from the individual tax cuts were people who own small businesses in LLC's and Sub S corporations, as well as larger businessmen who have lots of employees or who have lots of depreciation expenses. Overall the tax cuts were a good thing, especially the corporate cuts, and they've helped the economy. I agree with you about the deficits, but don't blame that specifically on the Republicans. They were too high under Obama and Trump.
While I'd be kinder and gentler given the respect I hold for you as a legendary hobbyist, LustyLad is right in the gist of what he wrote, the U.S. tax system is the most progressive in the developed world.
This is the seminal study, put out by an unbiased multilateral group, the Organization for Economic Cooperaton and Development,
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social...s0hj2fd1.delta
Unfortunately you have to buy this, and it's pretty technical. I did buy it and did read it. We debated this here some time ago. I posted a link to something on Greg Mankiw's blog that summarizes the article, and provides some comments by the author. Unfortunately it's disappeared from Mankiw's blog. In the blog, the author said the problem in the USA isn't that the tax system isn't progressive enough, it's in how the government spends the money. Also he said European countries tax the middle class at high levels and then use that money for social spending in a way that reduces inequality. That's why their tax systems are regressive compared to ours.
