Well, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) repealed "net neutrality" today. This is a scary defeat. Without net neutrality which was instituted during the Obama administration, internet service providers have the power to decide which websites can run faster . . . or slower to users. Just think about that. If it's difficult to get information on certain news media sites (like the New York Times or Washington Post) but easier to get information on other sites (like Fox news). . .
News about the Republican tax bill:The Senate and the House of Representatives reached a compromise version of the two tax bills on Wednesday. Their plan is to reveal the merged Republican tax bill today (Friday), then vote on the tax bill early next week, and have Trump sign the bill by Christmas. The Republicans are working on passing this tax bill at an amazing speed, because the more news that is reported on it, and the more time for people to protest the bill, the more difficult is it to pass the bill.
Here is my understanding of what the Republican tax bill contains (although it seems to change from day to day, so assuming no last minute changes occur):
The Good:This merged version of the tax bill gives back valued deductions that earlier versions of the bill had eliminated. Thus these items will not be repealed by this tax bill and happily remain available for people to use: Deductions for high medical expenses; deductions for college students based on interest on student loans; and graduate students who receive tuition stipends will continue to avoid paying taxes on that benefit. I'm very happy that these items were not repealed by the Republicans. The deduction for high medical expenses is especially important for persons who were already suffering economically from large medical expenses, and suffering emotionally and physically from serious health conditions.
The Bad (there is a lot!). The Republican tax bill will:
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Repeal the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act, which experts view as the “glue” to keep health insurance under the Affordable Care Act “affordable” and economical—thus
causing 4 million people to lose health insurance in 2019, and 13 million people to lose health insurance in 2027, as well as a 10 percent increase in premiums--
Cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent, rather than the current 35 percent rate; and the cut would take effect in 2018 (because corporations are people too and need help the most *sarcasm*)
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Allow some high-earning business owners to claim an even larger tax break than the Senate bill would have. That deduction is likely to be lower than the 23 percent deduction in the Senate-passed bill.
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Eliminate the individual alternative minimum tax (the alternative minimum tax was created to guarantee wealthy individuals would pay at least a minimum tax, despite the wealthy being skilled at using loop holes to avoid paying taxes). The alternative minimum tax was eliminated by the Republican tax bill, then kept , then eliminated--so who knows if they keep it or not in the final bill. My guess is that they will eliminate it because again, the Republicans' main motivation for this tax bill is to keep happy their wealthy donors who fund their political campaigns (if kept, it will apply to fewer wealthy taxpayers than previously)
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Lower the
top individual tax rate to 37 percent for the wealthiest Americans, who currently pay 39.6 percent
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Cap the popular deduction for interest on mortgage debt at $750,000 for newly purchased homes, (this will hurt homeowners in states with high property values)
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Allow deductions for state and local taxes, but only up to $10,000 (whether such a deduction is based on property taxes, or income or sales taxes). This is a huge issue for states with high state and local taxes, with potentially huge economic consequences way down the future for these states. If this particular item remains in the tax bill, expect the Republicans who vote in support of the tax bill to be especially targeted in the mid-term election.
A news report stated that a result of the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act being repealed by the Republican tax bill is that:
NBC wrote:
Dec. 14, 2017
“Having young and healthy people as part of the insurance pool helps keep premiums manageable for everyone,” a coalition of health and consumer groups, including the American Diabetes Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the American Lung Association, said in a joint statement.
Insurance companies have already said that without the mandate, they’ll have to raise premiums and pass on other costs to people who do have health insurance.
[. . . ]
[If the Republican tax bill repeals the “individual mandate” part of the Affordable Care Act, then] “the number of people with health insurance would decrease by 4 million in 2019 and 13 million in 2027,” the CBO said.
[. . .]
Health insurance premiums in this nongroup market [who get their health insurance through the Obamacare markets] will go up by 10 percent, the CBO predicted.
This will hit one group in particular, according to the Commonwealth Fund, which conducts studies in health policy and released a report Thursday on the Affordable Care Act.
“People who buy their own coverage on the individual market and who have incomes above 400 percent of the federal poverty level (about $48,200 for an individual and $98,400 for a family of four) — the threshold for ACA premium subsidies — would face the brunt of the premium increase,” it [the Commonwealth Fund, which conducts studies in health policy] said.
A 40-year-old customer buying health insurance on one of the federal exchanges would pay $556 more in premiums in North Dakota and $1,264 more in Nebraska, the group calculated.
Source: "Tax bill kills health insurance mandate. Who will pay more?" Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/tax-bill-kills-health-insurance-mandate-who-will-pay-more-n829846
Also, today, media is reporting that Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Mike Lee wish to expand the child tax credit, would would help lower-income people .
Tax negotiators didn’t have much trouble finding a way to lower the the top tax bracket and to start the corporate tax cut a year early. 1/2
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) Dec. 14, 2017
And another Republican Senator, Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) was surprisingly honest by stating: "We’re literally trying to squeeze about $2 trillion in tax reform into a $1.5 trillion box, and that’s been a problem.”
So please keep calling! Please, please keep calling your Senators and your House of Representative -- especially if they are Republican-- THIS WEEK AND NEXT WEEK UP TO THE DAY OF THE VOTE, and urge them to vote NO on the Republican tax bill.
House of RepresentativesIf you live in California, New York, New Jersey, Arizona, Alaska, Maine, West Virginia and Tennessee, it is especially important that you call your Republican House of Representative.
Dana Rohrbacher (CA) (202) 225-2415Tom McClintock (CA) (202) 225-2511Darrell Issa (CA) (202.225.3906Lee Zeldin (NY) (202) 225-3826Elise Stefanik (NY) (202) 225-4611Pete King (NY) (202) 225-7896Dan Donovan (NY) (202) 225-3371John Faso (NY) (202) 225-5614Chris Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765Leonard Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ) (202) 225-5034Ryan Costello (PA) (202) 225-4315You can find your
House of Representative’s number by calling the Capitol's switchboard at
202-224-3121. You also may find your House of Representative's phone number by going here: https://www.house.gov/representatives/
SenateThe below Senators are especially critical:
Marco Rubio (FL) 202) 224-3041
Mike Lee (Utah) (202) 224-5444
Bob Corker (TN) (202) 224-3344
Ron Johnson (WI) (202) 224-5323
John McCain (AZ) (202) 224-2235Jeff Flake (Arizona) (202-224-4521 Susan Collins (Maine) (202) 224-2523 Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) (202) 224-6665To find out how to contact your
Senators, please go here:
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfmNOTE: A new texting service run by a group of concerned citizens is also available for those who are shy of calling their Representative or Senators (or if the phone lines are always busy). The new texting service is called "Resistbot." You enter your name and the zip code. The texting service then finds your local elected officials and you are then prompted to write what you want to tell them (such as: "Vote NO on the Republican tax bill because it hurts low-income and middles class people, in order to lower taxes for the very wealthy and for corporations." Resistbot also sends your message to your two Senators, and you can request that your message be sent to your House of Representative (which is important to do as well). Source: "This is how you can text your elected officials." Link: https://hellogiggles.com/lifestyle/technology/this-is-how-you-can-text-your-elected-officials/
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