Steve Bantly: Trump administration greatest friend the wealthy have ever had
Japan and Europe have signed a trade treaty, citing proposed U.S. tariffs which will likely reduce U.S. farm exports. Education secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded rules enabling students to erase debt caused by the deceptive recruiting practices of for-profit colleges. These are Trump/GOP policies that benefit rich corporate friends while compromising working-class voters. Other examples:
Failed proposed healthcare legislation: It would have repealed Obamacare and greatly reduced coverage for 22 million poor and low-wage workers, raised rates for older Americans, re-established preexisting conditions clauses in policies while giving substantial tax cuts to the wealthy.
Proposed tax legislation: Cutting corporate taxes to 15 percent, the top individual rate for the wealthy to 25 percent and reducing middle-class tax brackets from five to three and eliminating deductions such as property tax likely would increase middle-class taxes while substantially reducing marginal rates for the wealthy. Result: Ballooning deficits.
Proposed infrastructure rebuilding: Instead of using taxes and public borrowing, wealthy investors would fund infrastructure repairs, getting tax exemptions and taxpayer funded interest payments in return. Result: privatization of public infrastructure (private toll roads vs. freeways). The results are always reduced taxes for corporations and wealthy investors, and broken promises for working-class Americans .
Trump supporters: Is this the populist president you voted for?
Steve Bantly, Merced
This story was originally published August 23, 2017 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Steve Bantly: Trump administration greatest friend the wealthy have ever had."