2/ Total federal spending in 2019 was $4.4 trillion. The current bill would spend approximately $6 trillion. Yet any reduction in spending means “people will die”. Really?
3/ Meanwhile, the country’s credit rating has been downgraded because the total deficit now exceeds GDP, a once unthinkable ratio of debt:GDP.
4/ Before you dunk on the GOP, keep in mind that the Democrats (who were solely responsible for increasing annual federal
spending by over $2 trillion during the Biden administration, not to mention allowing millions of new federal “dependents” to enter the country illegally), have offered NOTHING in the way of an alternative budget plan (it is a lot easier to sit on the sidelines and lob criticisms then to actually do something proactive and productive).
IMO (as someone who has earned and paid taxes on taxable income since the age of 14) we may need to raise taxes on the future - but our primary problem is spending. Unless we want to become a socialist democracy as is the case in Europe and the UK (all of whom are struggling with stagnant economies due to over-regulation and over taxation), we need to recognize we cannot afford all the government many seem to want. If you want to see what that would look like here, just examine every “blue” state and major city in the country and compare them to “red” (light regulation, and taxation) states like Florida, Texas and Arizona - all thriving.
Remember the GLOBAL PANDEMIC that the Biden administration brought us out of with a booming economy which Trump tanked in the first 2 months of his new presidency. Let’s face it Republicans are bad on the economy, taxation, spending, health care, taking care of veterans and immigration. As I recall their deregulation took us into the Great Recession. I’ve been paying taxes for 50+ years. Democrats are BAD at messaging these failures. The “federal dependents” you so easily dismiss as a pox on our country, drive the service economy, pay taxes and are less likely to commit violent crimes than those born right here in the US. God Bless America.
Remember, the spending initiated by Trump was more than enough to address the GLOBAL PANDEMIC, as widely attested to by economists across the spectrum, including Larry Summers (former secretary of the treasury and prominent democrat), who warned Biden (and the Democrats) that the spending was excessive and was going to create enormous disruption in the economy, including inflation. So, sorry, I do not think the Democrats are bad at messaging - I think they are really bad at managing the economy (and, while I am no fan of Trump, am certain, if Harris had won, they would still be spending like there is no tomorrow - certainly, there is no evidence to the contrary). If you want to argue the point, you need to explain what changes you would make in the federal budget and how that would benefit the economy.
The one thing that Trump was successful at was operation warp speed, (weird name) and the development and distribution of the vaccine that saved millions of lives. 🥳 then he systematically degraded the vaccine, the science and those that worked their asses off to help and protect Americans and the world with stupid conspiracy theories. So essentially Trump wasted those dollars trashing the vaccine and Dr. Anthony Fauci, an American hero. I’m still so puzzled by a President, who almost died, if not for his access to exceptional health care, who did not get vaccinated. He put down masks, physical distancing and the vaccine causing many more severe illnesses and deaths. That cost money. Holding superspreader events did not help.
Tax Foundation study – considered all taxes of the “super rich” and found that they paid about 60% of total income in taxes (state, local, business, and abroad) – and concluded they pay their “fair share.”
ProPublica study by contrast just looked at income taxes and concluded 25 richest Americans paid a “true” income tax rate of 3.4%....and 25 highest-earning billionaires paid 16% average tax rate. IRS study suggested people earning over %760 million paid an average federal income tax rate of 23%
So you can make the argument based on income tax payments of the super rich – but picture gets more complicated if you consider the total tax picture.
Meantime – IRS reports that top 1% of income earners in 2021 paid 40% of income taxes, down from about 46% precovid…
So the rich do pay the bulk of federal income taxes – but then it’s like jessie james reportedly said when asked why he robbed banks: “It’s where the money is”
The nonpartisan CBO estimate says that the estimated deficit from the bill as passed by the House would trigger sequestration, which would cause a cut of $500 Billion in Medicare over the next decade. Yes, Medicare;Medicaid is more directly affected, but Medicare would be too because of the sequestration rule that Congress passed years ago. It's true that that could be reversed by Congress later on, but nonetheless, that is apparently a consequence of the bill in its current form.
Key facts:
1/ The top 50 percent of all taxpayers pay 97 percent of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent pay the remaining 3 percent. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/latest-federal-income-tax-data-2025/ The current bill simply extends existing tax rates enacted in 2017.
2/ Total federal spending in 2019 was $4.4 trillion. The current bill would spend approximately $6 trillion. Yet any reduction in spending means “people will die”. Really?
3/ Meanwhile, the country’s credit rating has been downgraded because the total deficit now exceeds GDP, a once unthinkable ratio of debt:GDP.
4/ Before you dunk on the GOP, keep in mind that the Democrats (who were solely responsible for increasing annual federal
spending by over $2 trillion during the Biden administration, not to mention allowing millions of new federal “dependents” to enter the country illegally), have offered NOTHING in the way of an alternative budget plan (it is a lot easier to sit on the sidelines and lob criticisms then to actually do something proactive and productive).
IMO (as someone who has earned and paid taxes on taxable income since the age of 14) we may need to raise taxes on the future - but our primary problem is spending. Unless we want to become a socialist democracy as is the case in Europe and the UK (all of whom are struggling with stagnant economies due to over-regulation and over taxation), we need to recognize we cannot afford all the government many seem to want. If you want to see what that would look like here, just examine every “blue” state and major city in the country and compare them to “red” (light regulation, and taxation) states like Florida, Texas and Arizona - all thriving.
Remember the GLOBAL PANDEMIC that the Biden administration brought us out of with a booming economy which Trump tanked in the first 2 months of his new presidency. Let’s face it Republicans are bad on the economy, taxation, spending, health care, taking care of veterans and immigration. As I recall their deregulation took us into the Great Recession. I’ve been paying taxes for 50+ years. Democrats are BAD at messaging these failures. The “federal dependents” you so easily dismiss as a pox on our country, drive the service economy, pay taxes and are less likely to commit violent crimes than those born right here in the US. God Bless America.
Remember, the spending initiated by Trump was more than enough to address the GLOBAL PANDEMIC, as widely attested to by economists across the spectrum, including Larry Summers (former secretary of the treasury and prominent democrat), who warned Biden (and the Democrats) that the spending was excessive and was going to create enormous disruption in the economy, including inflation. So, sorry, I do not think the Democrats are bad at messaging - I think they are really bad at managing the economy (and, while I am no fan of Trump, am certain, if Harris had won, they would still be spending like there is no tomorrow - certainly, there is no evidence to the contrary). If you want to argue the point, you need to explain what changes you would make in the federal budget and how that would benefit the economy.
Trumps tax cuts added the largest deficit in American history.
Yes, they did (that whole GLOBAL PANDEMIC thing, including Operation Warp Speed)
The one thing that Trump was successful at was operation warp speed, (weird name) and the development and distribution of the vaccine that saved millions of lives. 🥳 then he systematically degraded the vaccine, the science and those that worked their asses off to help and protect Americans and the world with stupid conspiracy theories. So essentially Trump wasted those dollars trashing the vaccine and Dr. Anthony Fauci, an American hero. I’m still so puzzled by a President, who almost died, if not for his access to exceptional health care, who did not get vaccinated. He put down masks, physical distancing and the vaccine causing many more severe illnesses and deaths. That cost money. Holding superspreader events did not help.
"The top 50 percent of all taxpayers pay 97 percent of all federal individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent pay the remaining 3 percent. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/latest-federal-income-tax-data-2025/ The current bill simply extends existing tax rates enacted in 2017."
What is the income of the top 50%?
Census says that 50% of taxpayers earn $80,000 or more -- so people making more than $80,000 pay 97% of the individiual federal income taxes.
Thank you. That makes a lot of sense. Another question: what percent of billionaires pay federal income taxes?
Tax Foundation study – considered all taxes of the “super rich” and found that they paid about 60% of total income in taxes (state, local, business, and abroad) – and concluded they pay their “fair share.”
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/super-rich-pay-effective-tax-rates/
ProPublica study by contrast just looked at income taxes and concluded 25 richest Americans paid a “true” income tax rate of 3.4%....and 25 highest-earning billionaires paid 16% average tax rate. IRS study suggested people earning over %760 million paid an average federal income tax rate of 23%
So you can make the argument based on income tax payments of the super rich – but picture gets more complicated if you consider the total tax picture.
Meantime – IRS reports that top 1% of income earners in 2021 paid 40% of income taxes, down from about 46% precovid…
So the rich do pay the bulk of federal income taxes – but then it’s like jessie james reportedly said when asked why he robbed banks: “It’s where the money is”
Thank you.
The nonpartisan CBO estimate says that the estimated deficit from the bill as passed by the House would trigger sequestration, which would cause a cut of $500 Billion in Medicare over the next decade. Yes, Medicare;Medicaid is more directly affected, but Medicare would be too because of the sequestration rule that Congress passed years ago. It's true that that could be reversed by Congress later on, but nonetheless, that is apparently a consequence of the bill in its current form.
Thanks, the devil is in the details.