Looking Back on Tax ReformNow that the Republican Tax Bill is the law of the land we can look back on it and see how much better we could have done. People who oppose the new legislation state that the rich are getting tax cuts while the middle class and lower class are getting a tax hike. People who support the new legislation say everyone is getting a tax cut. As well, they strongly support cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. Regardless, the approval rating for this piece of legislature is low.
According to a USA Today/ Suffolk University Poll only 32% of people who were surveyed approved the legislation. Looking back on the bill I can conclude with a good deal of certainly many Americans feel we could have done better. Here are some ideas:A Bipartisan Bill: Who would have been averse to have a bipartisan push for a tax reform bill? A bipartisan push would have not cured the country of it’s disunity however it would have alleviated it a little bit. A Total Tax Cut for the Middle Class: A major reason for this bill according to many was to have a tax cut for our shrinking middle class. However, the middle class seems to receive a tax cut now and in ten years have their taxes increase. This provision which increases taxes for middle class in a decade most likely dragged down the legislatures approval rating. Instead, we should have given a tax cut for the middle class that would last forever not few years.
As a country we need to have a strong middle class and a total tax cut for them certainly would help that.Raise Taxes For Wealthiest: I believe raising taxes for the wealthy and in unison lower taxes for the lower classes would be immensely popular. This idea would combat income inequality which is and will be a major problem in the future. This idea in theory should also gain the support of deficit hawks as raising the taxes on the wealthy should also decrease our enormous deficit. Eliminate The Corker Kickback: The “corker kickback” was a 20% decrease in taxes for LLCs, LPs, and S-Corporations. This decrease enraged many as the deduction will enrich many members of Congress and the President himself. It as well presented bad optics for Bob Corker hence the name the Corker Kickback.
Corporate Tax Rate: The corporate tax rate was lowered from 35 % to 20%. Republicans stated that this would attract corporations to come back to the United States. Only time will tell if this is true.All in all, the Republican Tax Bill was not the piece of legislation we needed to pass. We could have done better and doing the things above could have certainly helped the bill.
