Today is a pretty quiet one, I merely had to show up to work for a few hours to lock up one of the sites after some students in an enrichment program left... no long endurance tour dealing with the public. I had some time to check the news and was surprised that Trump bucked a Republican plan to drastically cut the tax benefits of 401(k) plans. Basically, the Republican plan is to kill 401(k) plans by rendering them useless- no tax benefit, no real appeal in the plans.
I like to say that I am doing okay- I can actually put away ten percent of my wages in a 401(k), though I live a pretty frugal lifestyle. The organization matches the contributions to some extent, but it's the tax benefit which is most appealing. Any plans to cut the benefits to Joe and Jane Clockpuncher in order to give even bigger tax breaks to plutocrats is utter sociopathy.
It's somewhat surprising that Trump has been so vocal in defense of the 401(k) plan- I don't know whether to chalk this up to hatred of McConnell and Ryan, or a realization that this sort of legislation directly attacks his base.
Not to worry, he'll change his mind/public statements in a few days, hrs., or mins.
ReplyDeleteyeah, Bouffant is right. Your gig is on the cutting block, unless it is wholly funded by State funds.
ReplyDeleteLook, I can tell you what to expect. In wisconsin, Turdwaffle decided against his former expansion of state tax credits and said that they are now capped at 500 k per project. Which were only really applicable to projects in the urban areas (which did not vote Republican and also have lots of alarmingly brown people). Pretty much aimed at the cities that do not support the White Power Party.
This has been a hilarious process to watch.
ReplyDeleteWe wanna cut taxes on the wealthy and corporations, bigly!
Cool. How y'gonna pay for it?
Um. Border Tax Adjustment?
YAY!
[Walmart] Not so fast, big guy.
Oh. OK. Mortgage Interest Deduction?
YAY!
[Sort-of Rich People] Not so fast, big guy.
Bummer. Alright, State and Local Tax Deduction?
YAY!
[Lots of Senators] Not gonna fly, not for one goddam minute.
DAMMIT. OK. Let's just go after 401k plans.
YAY!
[Trump] Sorry boys - the people I actually listen to don't like it a bit.
Hokay, fuck it. Let's just blow up the deficit!
YAY!
See, cutting tax RATES is easy. Cutting tax deductions or expenditures is hard. It's why the GOP HATES to have to actually legislate. They have to actually SAY what they're going to do. And it's universally ugly...