1. Height Of Hypocrisy 3: Using Taxpayer Money For Personal Use Like Communists & Dictators
2. Height Of Hypocrisy 4: Republican Hypocrisy On The Deficit Is Epic!
3. An Introduction To, And A Basic Overview Of, The Fake Economics Republicans Push
4. Daily Show On GOP's Trickle Down Economics: The Republicans Economic Con Is Just The Already Debunked "Supply Side Economics" From The 80s (i.e. Reverse Robin Hood Economics Of Stealing From the People To Line Their Pockets Like "Nobles" In Monarchies)
5. BREAKING... The Misunderstood Economy: What Counts and How to Count It OR Real Economics VS Fake Economics: How The Kochs Are Destroying America By Attacking Its Societal Structures In Favor Of Social Darwinism Or "Survival Of The Fittest"
6. The Fall Of The American Economy: Trump Makes War On The Economy By Taking Treasonous Economic Policies Designed To Destroy The Economy From Koch Brother Think-Tanks
7. Yet More Proof Of Economic Treason By The GOP
The GOP/Republican Tax "Reform" Bill is really just a Christmas present for the Scrooges of the world with the promise of hurting the Tiny Tim's of the world from one of the top republicans. Its basically what Freedom and the Spirit of the Constitution would look like, if it were upside down (i.e. they make sure the rich are more "equal" than the rest of us by crushing the economy for the poor and middle class).
THE GOP GIVES AMERICA'S NEEDIEST MILLIONAIRES A TAX BREAK 12/4/2017 Trevor takes a closer look at the Republican-penned Senate tax bill that gives massive breaks to millionaires and large corporations.
Some highlights;
Why the Republicans passed this particular tax "reform" bill...
CNN: Hill Republican dilemma: Dash to pass tax reform or face donor backlash
NY Post: GOP’s big donors threaten to close wallets if tax reform isn’t passed
WASHINGTON – Republicans have a lot riding on tax reform — including campaign contributions.
The failure by the GOP-led government to score a significant legislative victory in the year since President Trump was elected has caused some Republican donors to close their wallets.
“I’ve just reached my breaking point with it,” said Dan Eberhart, CEO of Canary LLC, an oilfield services company. “Do something for goodness sakes.”
In protest, he’s stopped sending donations to the National Republican Senate Committee – the main fundraising campaign for Senate Republicans. Instead he’s been meeting with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, who is courting GOP primary challengers to blow up the establishment of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Politico: Angry GOP donors close their wallets 'I’m sick and tired of nothing happening,' one contributor says of the party's legislative failures.
Republicans are confronting a growing revolt from their top donors, who are cutting off the party in protest over its inability to get anything done. Tensions reached a boiling point at a recent dinner at the home of Los Angeles billionaire Robert Day. In full view of around two dozen guests, Thomas Wachtell, a retired oil and gas investor and party contributor, delivered an urgent message to the night’s headliner, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: Just do something.
With so much pressure from BIG donors the politicians/"statesmen" didn't even bother to read the bill...
GOP nearing vote on tax bill nobody has read Republican senators are once again racing to pass a bill before anyone gets a chance to figure out what exactly it does or who it hurts. Duration: 3:39
Dem gives McConnell's "deeply dishonest" tax bill op-ed an "F" https://t.co/AwOqcCVb7a pic.twitter.com/uEBNRZy852— The Hill (@thehill) December 6, 2017
Colbert is referring to the fact that "Supply Side Economics" Republicans have been using for the past 30+ years is known NOT to work.
All republicans (such as James Lankford) are saying cutting taxes will lead to more investment and thus more jobs, none of which has happened historically (and to say a person getting back more money from taxes will give it too employees in raises obviously has never owned or worked for a business). In any case, even if we didn't have historical proof that the GOP are lying we still have actual business people saying they won't invest under the GOP's tax cuts ...
A collection of debunkings that show just how bad/big the Republican lies and hypocrisy is;
Fmr. GOP Treasury official: Tax cut bill makes no sense Bruce Bartlett, who worked in the Reagan Treasury Dept., says Republicans are cutting taxes as if it's a game of golf: just trying to get to the lowest number possible without thinking of the impact on the deficit or the middle class. John Heilemann also joins. Duration: 8:46
CNN debunks myth that GOP tax plans help the middle class, outlining "tax gifts for the wealthy" Christine Romans: "Wall Street doesn't see this as a middle-class tax cut. Wall Street sees this as a Wall Street tax cut"
CHRISTINE ROMANS: Big corporate, permanent corporate tax cuts are the cornerstone of both versions. Make no mistake, there is no guarantee it will add jobs or raise wages and both plans add to the deficit. Let's zero-in on the Senate bill. A score from Congress itself finds winners and losers in every tax bracket, and the losers grow over time. For Americans making the median income, 81 percent get a tax cut in 2019. By the year 2027, only 14 percent still have a tax cut, and a fourth -- 26 percent -- pay more. The biggest tax cuts go to the top earners. Other tax goodies for the top: repealing or adjusting the alternative minimum and estate taxes, and preserving the carried interest deduction that's mainly used by hedge fund and private equity managers and real estate developers.[...]POPPY HARLOW (CO-HOST): And, there's no mandate on what they have to do with all that extra money coming over. Zero, zilch, nothing.ROMANS: None. So, you're taking it on faith that they're going to take that money -- the CEOs -- and create jobs or raise wages. And when we've asked those CEOs on the conference calls for their earnings, they have said no, they're going to give it back to share buy-backs and dividends.HARLOW: Right, which has happened in history almost every single time. But, really quickly, didn't the president say a while ago that hedge fund folks were getting away with murder? And now they get to keep the carried interest loophole.ROMANS: Again and again. They get to keep the carried interest. They get to keep the carried interest. Now, the president also over the weekend said he'd be OK with a 22 percent corporate tax rate. Clearly, Wall Street isn't concerned about 22 percent either because it's still up.JOHN BERMAN (CO-HOST): It's big no matter what, they never care.ROMANS: Well, Wall Street doesn't see this as a middle-class tax cut. Wall Street sees this as a Wall Street tax cut.
Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle unleash a torrential debunking of a GOP congressman's tax policy lies This is exactly how journalists need to treat the Republicans’ messaging nonsense on their giveaway to the rich
MSNBC hosts Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle thoroughly debunked conservative talking points about the Republican Party’s pro-corporate tax policy during an interview with an ill-prepared member of Congress, who was attempting to build support for his party’s proposed tax changes that overwhelmingly favor the wealthy.
During the December 4 edition of MSNBC Live with Velshi and Ruhle, Velshi presented a detailed outline of the many ways in which Republican tax bills in the House and Senate will fall short of GOP promises and commitments. Velshi noted that numerous independent analyses have shown the GOP plans will add upwards of $1 trillion to the national debt, and pointed out that despite “huge changes made to our tax code … we’ve seen no observable shift to long-term growth rates in the last 150 years.” Velshi also pointed to a surveyconducted by the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, which found that none of the 42 leading economists surveyed believe the plans will be able to boost economic growth rates by enough to make up for lost revenue. He concluded the segment by pointing to a recently-released Goldman Sachs analysis of the Senate tax bill, which concluded that economic growth stemming from the tax bill will be lower than Republicans have claimed, and, as Velshi stated, “possibly even … negative” after a few years:
Immediately after outlining all the problems in the GOP tax plans, MSNBC invited Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) on the program and gave him an opportunity to defend his party’s policy priorities. Stewart’s performance did not go as he might have anticipated, with co-hosts Velshi and Ruhle taking turns debunking GOP talking points and pillorying Stewart’s excuses for the tax plan.
The co-hosts rebuffed Stewart’s repeated assertions that tax cuts for profitable corporations and wealthy individuals will boost economic growth (a 2012 Congressional Research Service study found no correlationbetween income tax rates and economic growth, and a 2014 study from the Brookings Institution argued the relationship between tax cuts and growth was “theoretically uncertain”), they corrected his false claim that the United States has the world’s highest corporate taxes (effective corporate rates are the same as other developed countries), and they called out his false claim that “the American people want us to do this” (the GOP tax plans are actually extremely unpopular). When Stewart claimed the GOP plans are effective in simplifying the tax code, Ruhle challenged him over and over to name a single corporate loophole that is being removed (he couldn’t), and both co-hosts stung Stewart over how Republican plans fail to address the so-called “carried interest” loophole, which helps extremely high-income individuals avoid paying taxes on some of their income.
By the end of his nearly 11-minute grilling, Stewart was actually defending the discredited theory of “trickle-down economics” by name, which Velshi correctly noted was such a disaster in Kansas that the state’s Republican-dominated legislature had to abandon their conservative tax agenda.
This takedown from Velshi and Ruhle is not the first time the MSNBC duo has discredited the GOP’s hollow economic message. Both Velshi and Ruhle have spent considerable time over the past several months pointing out that the Republican agenda favors wealthy individuals, profitable corporations, and the Trump family at the expense of lower- and middle-income Americans. This important work in correcting purposeful misinformation about the GOP's right-wing agenda is all the more important as Republican lawmakers prepare to enact tax policy changes that could affect millions of Americans for years to come.
Even Fox has to admit the GOP tax plan raises taxes on many middle-class Americans Gerri Willis: Republicans "say everybody and their mother gets a tax cut, and what I'm saying is that's not true"
From the December 4 edition of Fox News' Shepard Smith Reporting:
GERRI WILLIS: Republicans, on the other hand, they keep saying everybody gets a tax cut. You and I both know that's really not true. If you live in a blue state, you're a W-2 earner --SHEPARD SMITH (HOST): It's on every middle-classer, because every middle-classer does not --WILLIS: Well, Republicans make big, big -- you know, they say everybody and their mother gets a tax cut, and what I'm saying is that's not true, and people, even middle-class people in blue tax states are gonna see a tax increase.And why? It's because of that state and local tax deduction. Taking that away, even if you leave $10,000 for real estate, still is going to hit people hard. And the surprise about this is high-income tax states, states where income taxes are high and charged by their state capitols.You'd be surprised at some of these. You know California, but what about Oklahoma, Minnesota, Iowa, of course, New Jersey and New York? There's some states in there that you might not have expected.
400 millionaires tell Congress not to cut their taxes Many in the top 1 percent think the Republican tax bill will damage the country, so they wrote a letter to Congress
Even members of the wealthiest top one percent are not too impressed with the Republican tax plan. More than 400 millionaires and billionaires signed their name to a letter calling on Congress to abandon the GOP's proposal to cut taxes. Those Americans said that the Republican Party would be harming the country if they reduced taxes on the richest families when the nation's debt and wealth inequality was the highest in decades. "Dear Member of Congress," the letter began. "We are high net worth individuals, many in the top 1 percent, who care deeply about our nation and its people, and we write with a simple request: Do not cut our taxes."
GOP economic adviser: Tax cuts most irresponsible in U.S. history Republicans' trillion dollar tax cut is being paid for by cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and even some Republicans don’t know that. Bush admin. economist Bruce Bartlett and Obama White House veteran Ron Klain join Ari Melber. Duration: 8:57
Fox's Kilmeade parrots Trump's false claim that GOP tax plan would "hurt him as a businessman" Tax plan could save Trump and his family over $1 billion
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): The president had a couple emphasis yesterday. He said listen, this isn't tax cuts. This is tax reform. This is historic. We're changing a lot of things. He says it's going to hurt him as a businessman, and he doesn't care because he's president now.
Related:
Previously:
Three lies about the Senate Republican tax plan that journalists need to correct
As Republicans prepare to vote on a bill to drastically alter the tax code by slashing corporate rate
s and creating carve-outs for the wealthy at the expense of some of the most vulnerable, some Republican senators took to cable news to hype the proposal. The lawmakers relied on debunked myths to encourage voters and their colleagues to support the historically unpopular legislation. In some cases, journalists pushed back on these talking points. But in the future, reporters must be quick to immediately debunk this onslaught of misinformation and deception.
s and creating carve-outs for the wealthy at the expense of some of the most vulnerable, some Republican senators took to cable news to hype the proposal. The lawmakers relied on debunked myths to encourage voters and their colleagues to support the historically unpopular legislation. In some cases, journalists pushed back on these talking points. But in the future, reporters must be quick to immediately debunk this onslaught of misinformation and deception.
Republicans claim everyone will get a tax cut
Several Republican lawmakers pitched the plan by claiming that every income group would receive a tax cut. On the November 30 edition of Fox News’ The Daily Briefing, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) stated that “everybody does get a tax cut” from this plan in response to questioning from host Sandra Smith.
In an interview with Fox News’ Bill Hemmer on the November 29 edition of America’s Newsroom, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) claimed that “every income group is going to get a tax cut,” to which Hemmer offered no push back.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) went a step further on the November 29 edition of CNN’s New Day, asserting that “every income bracket will benefit and the lower income brackets … will benefit the most.” Cornyn’s comments came after CNN’s Chris Cuomo pointed out that “this was billed as a middle-class” plan, but “there is no analysis that shows them being helped disproportionately to the top tier.”
These claims are not true. According to The Washington Post, Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimated that the bill would “give large tax cuts to the rich while raising taxes on American families earning $10,000 to $75,000 over the next decade.” Additionally, The New York Times found that “two-thirds of middle-class households would get a tax increase in 2027, and none — zero percent — would get a tax cut.”
Republicans assert Medicare will be unaffected by the bill
In a November 29 interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed that Republicans are “not touching Medicare at all in this bill” with no pushback from host Laura Ingraham.
This claim was also made by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who, according to The Wall Street Journal, assertedthat the bill includes “no cuts to Medicare.” But the Journal correctly noted, “Medicare would be cut by $25 billion in fiscal 2018 as a result of the bill because it would trigger automatic spending cuts under a pay-as-you-go budgeting law.”
Additionally, according to Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) essentially admitted that the tax bill “is the prelude to a larger attack on Social Security and Medicare.” During a November 29 interview forum hosted by Politico, Rubio said tax cuts would help with “instituting structural changes to Social Security and Medicare for the future.” Rubio’s claim is also backed up by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which found that to offset deficit increases, automatic cuts would be made to Medicare of up to $25 billion next year.
McConnell insists the bill will not increase the deficit
Also in his interview with Laura Ingraham, McConnell claimed that the tax bill “is not going to be a deficit producing effort.” Once again, Ingraham did not give any pushback to McConnell on his claim.
This, of course, is false. According to The New York Times, the JCT found that “the legislation would add $1 trillion to federal budget deficits over a decade, even after accounting for economic growth."
Fox & Friends revives debunked myths on the deficit, health care, and middle-class tax increases to push Senate GOP tax plan
In an attempt to defend the Republican tax bill, Fox & Friends hosts purported to debunk “myths” about the proposal, but actually just pushed a number of falsehoods and misleading statements themselves. For the segment, they hosted Rosemary Becchi, a tax attorney and lobbyist who previously worked as the Republican tax counsel on the Senate Finance Committee.
Claimed the plan won’t add $1 trillion to the deficit just one day after congressional committee found that it would. Becchi asserted that it was “completely false” that the bill would add $1 trillion to the deficit. Co-host Brian Kilmeade cited so-called “dynamic scoring” to allege that the bill could “actually reduce the deficit.” But, according to The New York Times, an estimate from Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) foundthat “the legislation would add $1 trillion to federal budget deficits over a decade, even after accounting for economic growth” through dynamic scoring.
Falsely claimed the plan won’t hike taxes on middle-income people. Becchi also insisted that the tax bill would cut taxes “at all levels. It cuts at the high-income earners, as well as middle- and low-class taxpayers, as well.” But, according to The Washington Post, the JCT estimated that the bill would “give large tax cuts to the rich while raising taxes on American families earning $10,000 to $75,000 over the next decade.” Additionally, The New York Times found that “two-thirds of middle-class households would get a tax increase in 2027, and none — zero percent — would get a tax cut.”
Whitewashed the harm the plan will do to Americans’ health care. Co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Becchi whether a potential “health care tax hike” under the proposed law will happen, which Becchi dismissed. Becchi correctly noted that the proposal includes a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) individual mandate, which would not lead to a tax hike. But Becchi and the hosts did not explain that as a result of repealing the mandate, as the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated, 13 million more people would lose their insurance and premiums would rise by about 10 percent in the ACA’s individual market.
Admitted that tax cuts will help the rich the most while claiming to be “debunking” the “myth” that tax cuts help the rich most. When asked about the impact the bill would have on the wealthiest Americans, Becchi noted that “these tax cuts will disproportionately help upper-income taxpayers,” but suggested that that was just because “most wealthy Americans pay the most taxes in this country.” This is a drastic understatement; based on the initial framework of the Republican tax bills, the Tax Policy Center found that “about 80 percent of the total benefit would accrue to taxpayers in the top 1 percent, whose after-tax income would increase 8.7 percent.”
From the December 1 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): First off, we hear about the deficit, and we hear that it’s going to add $1 trillion dollars to the deficit.ROSEMARY BECCHI: And that's just completely false. There’s so much in this bill that will generate an economic growth. And that economic growth will put us on a path to fiscal responsibility. So, there’s a lot to be in this bill for everybody.STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): OK, to chew on, and that's why we are looking at it, we just heard from [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi [(D-CA)]. She called it a “scam.” What about the fact that so many Democrats, Rosemary, have said it's going to be a tax hike on the middle class?BECCHI: And that's just not true. This bill will give benefits to both the low-, middle-, and high-income earners. It provides tax cuts straight across the board.AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): She also said health care tax hike. Is that going to happen?BECCHI: No. Not at all. What the bill includes is the repeal of the [individual] mandate. And if you recall, the mandate is simply a penalty for not purchasing health care. All it does is eliminate that penalty. That's not a tax.EARHARDT: So it saves people money if they don't want to do it.BECCHI: Exactly, exactly.KILMEADE: Right. And disproportionately it hurts people who make $50,000 and less, because they’re the ones who have to make the decision, do I have to pay the fine on the mandate for health care, or I do actually buy a plan --BECCHI: Correct.KILMEADE: -- which, sadly, the Obamacare plans are not what they promised -- the high premiums, high deductibles. Therefore, these people are in a conundrum. This would help them.BECCHI: That's absolutely correct.KILMEADE: Moving on to what I said before about the deficit. It would add $1 trillion to the deficit, if you don't put a -- factor in the fact that the economy is supposed to grow, bringing in additional revenue called dynamic scoring. If you feel as though the economy is going to stay the same, it would blow a hole. But if you’re betting that it’s going to grow, it would actually reduce the deficit.BECCHI: Right, that’s right. This bill will put more money into the pockets of both Americans, as well as businesses. And people will reinvest that money. And as a result of that reinvestment, we will have economic growth. And economic growth will generate more taxes.EARHARDT: Now what about the wealthy? Because when the president was running he said I'm going to decrease taxes for everybody. He said in a press conference yesterday or the day before that he -- he said I'm going to pay the penalty. I'm going to pay more in taxes because I'm one of the wealthy.BECCHI: Right. Most Americans, most wealthy Americans, pay the most taxes in this country.EARHARDT: That's the way it is now, right?BECCHI: Exactly. That's the way it is. So, as a result, these tax cuts will disproportionately help upper-income taxpayers. And that's just the reality. But, what this tax bill does, it cuts at all levels. It cuts at the high-income earners, as well as middle- and low-class taxpayers, as well.
Vox’s Ezra Klein explains how the GOP tax bill is “going to upend American health insurance markets” Klein: Republicans "don’t have an answer to this”
Fox & Friends repeats McConnell's false claim that he never turned down a meeting with President Obama McConnell reportedly avoided meetings with Obama
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): I saw a message from one of our producers on Capitol Hill that said that [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell [(R-KY)] said anytime President Obama invited him to the White House, he always showed up. This is the first time he could ever remember somebody not showing up for a presidential meeting, particularly something this important, because we're talking about financing the federal government of the United States for another year.
Related:
The Hill: Ex-Obama and Reid staffers: McConnell would pretend to be busy to avoid meeting with Obama
Previously:
The Republican Tax Bill Is a Disaster for Public Schools The GOP tax plan takes aim at public school funding.
Trump's Bizarre Rantings and Tweets Give Cover to His Fellow Authoritarian McConnell to Ram Through a Huge Tax Cut for the Rich Planned or not, Trump's provocations distract from McConnell's iron fist in the Senate.
Wednesday’s headlines from Washington perfectly displayed the dysfunctional personalities and darkening politics that are turning America into a plutocracy ruled by sociopaths and authoritarians. Whether or not it is coincidental, orchestrated or a bit of both, the latest reality-denying fantasy-embracing outbursts and provocations from President Trump gave Senate Republicans more cover to continue ramming through a tax bill in a manner that defies any pretense of representative government.
FROM THE TAX PLAN TO LIBYA, EVERYTHING GOES BACK TO TRUMP 11/30/2017 Donald Trump boasts about the GOP tax bill at a campaign rally, and Trevor explains how the president's attacks on journalism have had an impact on slavery in Libya.
Matthews: The GOP is taxing the poor to help the rich Chris wonders why it’s good Republican policy to hurt people at the bottom in order to keep more money in the hands of the wealthy. Duration: 1:32
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