While much of the reporting on the Treasury figures painted a picture of various and overlapping dynamics to explain the surge in the deficit—including higher payments on debt due to interest rates, tax filing waivers related to extreme weather events, the impact of a student loan forgiveness program that was later rescinded, or a dip in capital gains receipts—progressive tax experts say none of those complexities should act to shield what's at the heart of a budget that brings in less than it spends: tax giveaways to the rich.
Bobby Kogan, senior director for federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress, has argued repeatedly that growing deficits in recent years have a clear and singular chief cause: Republican tax cuts that benefit mostly the wealthy and profitable corporations.
In response to the Treasury figures released Friday, Kogan said that "roughly 75%" of the surge in the deficit and the debt ratio, the amount of federal debt relative to the overall size of the economy, was due to revenue decreases resulting from GOP-approved tax cuts over recent decades. "Of the remaining 25%," he said, "more than half" was higher interest payments on the debt related to Federal Reserve policy. - Common Dreams
Sunday, October 29, 2023
$10 trillion and counting in handouts to the greedheads
This is common knowledge to many, but unfortunately there are a lot of people who still refuse to face facts.
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Did you read the letter signed by Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach, Pete Stauber and 58 other House Republicans to Speaker Johnson expressing the need for action on the farm bill .... particularly mentioning the need for "commodity support programs and crop insurance, provides farmers and ranchers the foundation they need to manage risk, pass their farm or ranch down to the next generation".
ReplyDeleteNote the specific need to address the estate tax question. The Trump-passed Tax Cut and Jobs Act raised the exemption limits until 2025 ... and Speaker Mike Johnson has sponsored H.R.338 - Permanently Repeal the Estate Tax Act of 2023 as well as H.R.976 - TCJA Permanency Act.
Finstad claims he wrote the letter (and is the first signature) so it isn't a surprise that he would be interested in the estate tax.
Finstad claims he is a farmer yet if you drive by his house in New Ulm, you realize that his "farmland" is nowhere in sight. His parents live on the farm and Finstad's Financial Disclosure form lists farmland valued at 1 to 5 million. Finstad has stated that he and his brother farm 700 acres (soybean and corn) and with current values in Brown County at roughly $6,000, it is probably worth $4.2 million plus machinery, etc.
Now, let's talk about the estate tax exemption levels ... which the 2023 federal estate tax threshold is $12.92 million for individuals ... when it sunsets, it will reduce to about $5 million. So this whole talk about the need to address the exemption level would NOT impact the Finstad Farms ... and the Finstad Farm is about double the size of the average farm in Brown County. So any need to ensure that small family farms can pass on to their children would be covered ... however Big Farms (especially those with children who just share in the profits but now work in the fields) are the ones who would really benefit by repealing the estate tax.
Now some another question ... Did he buy the farm (his disclosure does not list any debts) or did he receive it as a gift from his parents (who live on the farm).