Barr thinks we’re stupid

Rep. Andy Barr wrote to me that the House Republicans’ tax reform plan is a great benefit to the middle class. How stupid does he think we are? The plan is a gigantic giveaway to the super-rich.

It does away with the estate tax in 2024, establishing a permanent aristocracy in America. President Donald Trump’s heirs will gain an extra billion dollars from that.

Trump says the plan will not benefit him personally, but since he refuses to release his tax returns, we have no way to determine that. Trump’s leaked 2005 returns show he paid $14 million in the alternative minimum tax. Guess what? The House plan does away with that tax too.

Though the plan leaves the top tax rate at 39.6 percent, it more than doubles the income exempted from this rate.

Republicans loudly proclaim that our corporate tax rates are the highest in the world and must be cut to promote growth. Few corporations pay anything close to the current 35 percent rate. With the deferral loophole, U.S. corporations have stashed $2.6 trillion in profits offshore waiting for another tax holiday, which Republicans now offer them at 10 cents for every dollar they owe in taxes.

This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Barr thinks we’re stupid."