Trump Administration Wants to Pass Another $100 Billion Tax Cut for the Wealthy
It's been less than a year since Congressional Republicans enacted a historic tax cut, and despite Republican claims and a meager handful of bonuses handed out by some corporations, there's been little evidence that ordinary Americans have gotten anything out of them. In fact, there's lots of evidence that these tax cuts that were designed to primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans have mostly benefited only the wealthiest Americans.
One person quick to acknowledge that it's mainly the rich reaping all the rewards is none other than Donald Trump himself. On Tuesday, while railing against the Koch brothers, the president essentially admitted that all of the tax and regulation rollbacks by his administration are primarily paying off for billionaires like the Kochs.
But the Trump administration is apparently unsatisfied with the tremendous tax cuts Congress has already given the richest Americans, a bracket that covers many current and former members of Trump's cabinet. A new story from The New York Times reports that the Treasury Department is now trying to figure out whether or not it can unilaterally enact a $100 billion tax cut that would mostly benefit the already wealthy. Per the Times:
Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit meeting in Argentina this month that his department was studying whether it could use its regulatory powers to allow Americans to account for inflation in determining capital gains tax liabilities. The Treasury Department could change the definition of “cost” for calculating capital gains, allowing taxpayers to adjust the initial value of an asset, such as a home or a share of stock, for inflation when it sells.
For a quick refresher, the capital gains tax applies to money made off of things like stock and real estate. The majority of Americans make their money through wages paid directly for their work, which is then taxed as income. Capital gains and inheritance are two taxes much reviled by Republicans, and they apply primarily to the wealthiest Americans alone. The tax rate on capital gains is already lower than the highest possible tax rate on income tax.
While this may seem like a gross priority, the Trump administration is actively looking for expenses to cut, and Betsy DeVos herself has found some. Specifically, she wants to stop $13 billion in college-loan forgiveness to help students who have been defrauded, because it's high time the U.S. stop prioritizing conned students over billionaires like the Koch brothers and Betsy DeVos.
