“Americans want… (fill in the blank)”, Senator Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan are prone to say. “Americans have spoken and we are listening”, McConnell and Ryan chirp. I often wonder just who those Americans are?
“Americans” is a clever way to mask who ever is the object of McConnell and Ryan’s words. If you are informed and following Congressional debate, then it is clear “you” are the “Americans” McConnell and Ryan are speaking to. The best part is that even if you have no idea what the debate is about, for example, you are just a “common man”, “Americans” means you for sure. Most of America’s population resides in the common man category.
A Federal District Court Judge in Texas issued a ruling yesterday pronouncing the Affordable Care Act was now un-Constitutional, null and void. What Constitution was he referring to since the ACA had already withstood two Supreme Court challanges?
McConnell and Ryan think the 2017 tax cut was just what “Americans” were looking for. The tax cut, however. gave most of its tax reductions to corporations and the very wealthy, and in effect, most “Americans” (who ever they are) were being played for suckers. I guess the notion that corporations and very wealthy people who were getting the tax breaks must be the “Americans” Mitch and Paul were talking about.
But what about the “common man”?
The “Common Man” for the most part does not pay income taxes. The “Common Man” earns too little to pay income tax although he pays other taxes like social security, Medicare, and sales and property taxes. But the “common man” is in for a surprise.
The 2017 tax reductions zeroed out the tax on those who do not have health insurance. Unbelievably, “Americans” who choose not to buy health insurance (even though they could afford to), and instead game the system by using the Emergency Rooms when they get sick, thereby allowing the rest of their fellow Americans to pick up the cost, have been encouraged and rewarded by the 2017 tax cut. This bill contained language which eliminated penalty taxes on those who did not have health insurance.
But there is more. The “common man” is in for another treat. The 2017 tax bill is unfunded. That means the tax cuts are bringing in too little tax revenue to cover government spending. Hmmm. That means the government must borrow money and thereby increase the Federal debt level which at some time in the future, the “common man” or his children must pay back. Oh, and as the debt grows, interest payments will squeeze out other government spending like fixing roads, bridges, etc and if Republicans have their way, the “common man” will receive less Medicare, Social Security, or any other government safety net benefits.
One need only look to France and the “yellow vest” demonstrations to observe what “Americans” might be in for given the current Republicans views on taxes.
Americans are mostly composed of “common men”. The wealthy are few, so tax breaks for the wealthy means problems for others. This makes it imperative that tax policies are carefully considered. The wealthy can’t pay for everything but paying less than their fair share, especially in an environment of income inequality, catches the “common man” in a vice of rising costs and fixed income. The “common man” is our society, and when our society breaks, bad things happen.
I wonder whether McConnell and Ryan are thinking this way?