Time will tell with tax bill

Published 8:00 am Friday, March 16, 2018

I don’t want to start another writing campaign convincing no one.

I tried to be nonpartisan, but do raise issues regarding our president. There are other salient points not mentioned in the letter on trickle-down economics. I assume the facts included are correct.

Not mentioned are several other key points.

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Many believe the tax measure will result in a $1 to $1.5 trillion deficit. Sooner or later, deficits must be repaid.

There is optimism the economy will grow at a rate faster than 3 percent per year, reducing the deficit by increasing revenue. Whether we can exceed 3 percent in the long run is problematic.

Promised elimination of the national debt and a balanced budget are fantasies. Those on Social Security and Medicare should think about how the deficit might be financed.

Speaker Paul Ryan wants to reduce those benefits. The president promised not to touch those programs, but he has fibbed before.

Many corporations received large tax benefits in the bill. That’s not all bad. They provide jobs and benefits to employees, and provide goods or services we need.

Apple reportedly will receive $30 billion in benefits, and will give their employees $100 million. We don’t know what benefit, will result for the president because he didn’t release his tax returns and has not disclosed business dealings or conflicts of interest.

Many will have to wait a year to see what benefit, if any, we receive. The corporate tax cuts are permanent, while those covering individuals phase out. 

It will be nice to repatriate billions of dollars due to the lower tax rate. Some will be invested in plant, equipment and jobs. Some will facilitate job eliminating mergers, some will buy back stock or financial activities like dividend increases.

Corporations generally do what is in their best interests first.

Finally, a major reason companies give bonuses is they don’t raise labor costs. They aren’t included in pension calculations.

Wages and salaries remain flat. Things that increase wages are low unemployment and skill shortages. If employers can’t attract potential employees, they will raise wages.

The tax bill was not well thought out, and the consequences, some of which are negative, can only be measured over time.

Jim Wright, Tryon