The House Republican Tax Plan’s most perplexing (and schadenfreude inducing) element is how badly it would screw a core Republican voter group. The merely affluent. That suburban/urban “I really just don’t want to pay taxes.” voter.
The calculus is clear. “We’re gladly throwing all you measly 2-to-15 percenters out to the wolves in order to lighten up the sled for the 1% to .01%.”
Its pretty amazing how targeted the plan is against at the merely comfortable. Why? That’s where the money is. If you’re cutting taxes on the super-rich, you have to balance the equation on the backs of someone.
- Eliminate the mortgage deduction over $500k. POW! to the lawyers and doctors who bought that high-dollar home in that “good” school district.
- No property tax deduction over $10k. OOF! Another body blow to home values in those nice suburbs with the good schools. Especially those prosperous pink-tinged “
I’ll whore my vote to anyone who promises a tax cut”“socially liberal, economically conservative” suburbs of the more prosperous cities. - No state income tax deduction. BLAM! to anyone living in any of the prosperous states. Those Orange County, CA Republicans certainly weren’t expecting that when they voted to cap property taxes with Prop 13 (shifting the CA state funding base to income taxes).
- Advantaging pass-through income over wage income. WHAMMO! to anyone who merely works for a hedge fund vs owning one…
- Etc. etc.
In summary – “We’ll gladly repeal the estate tax for a few hundred families and pay for it with your paychecks and home values.”
The schadenfreude comes from the burst bubbles of so many people who’d fooled themselves into thinking they were part of the protected classes. Sure the Republicans are slanted toward the rich, but I’m with them right! They’ll carry me along too! Won’t they…? Its like the suckers in a club who’ve paid extra to stand behind a red velvet rope with a dedicated (but cash) bar fooling themselves they’re actual VIP’s. Meanwhile the real (comped) VIP room with the (comped) bar is someplace totally different. With this note on the door.
You aren’t VIP’s. You aren’t part of the protected classes. Your’re just another bunch of suckers. Like those anti-abortionists and evangelicals we’ve been stringing along for years. Or those desperate deluded coal miners and factory workers whose votes we hijacked this cycle. And if you really think we give a shit, then you deserve to get suckered because coffee is for closers (below).
With Warm Regards – The Koch Brothers et al.
The interesting question is whether those voters will ever listen. Because even in 2016, the merely affluent “should” have voted for Hillary based on stated policy. Bernie was right. She was (and is) a triangulating creature of Wall Street and the merely affluent. But not (as much) of the plutocratic classes.
Yet so many affluent suburbs dutifully voted for a Jabberwocky Plutocrat/Rural/ Southern coalition party that is (now) dutifully serving its core voters. And they ain’t them.
“Coffee is for closers.” (click link for Video)
