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Tax Cuts

Republican Agenda’s ‘Triple Threat’ To Low- And Moderate-Income Families

April 7, 2025 Brendan Duke and Gbenga Ajilore, Portside. , , , ,
The Trump Administration and Republican majorities in both houses of Congress are advancing a policy agenda that deeply threatens millions of families’ ability to afford the basics by making it harder for them to secure health coverage, buy groceries, or afford everyday goods — all while pursuing expensive tax cuts that are skewed toward the wealthy. The centerpiece of that agenda is far-reaching tax and budget legislation intended to be passed through the fast-track budget “reconciliation” process. But that legislation works hand-in-hand with other Administration policies, both accelerating and deepening the damage to families with modest incomes.

Goals Behind Trump’s Tariffs

January 4, 2025 Ben Norton, Geopolitical Economy. , , , ,
Donald Trump cited billionaire egghead venture capitalist Marc Andreessen to advocate for high tariffs. Trump argued that tariffs will magically replace the income tax and pay off US public debt (which is more than 120% of GDP). This is utterly false, and mathematically absurd. For Trump, tariffs are just another convenient excuse to cut taxes on the rich — which will in fact increase the US deficit, and therefore public debt. Thanks to Trump’s tax cuts during his first term, the richest billionaire families in the US paid a lower effective tax rate than the bottom half of households in the country.

Corporations That Pay Their Executives More Than Uncle Sam

March 16, 2024 Sarah Anderson, William Rice and Zachary Tashman, Inequality.org. , , , , ,
Corporate tax dodging and CEO pay have both gotten so far out of control that a significant number of major U.S. companies are paying their top executives more than they’re paying Uncle Sam. Tesla is perhaps the most dramatic example. Over the period 2018-2022, the electric car maker raked in $4.4 billion in profits but paid no federal income taxes. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk became one of the world’s richest men. When it comes to fleecing taxpayers while overpaying executives, Tesla is hardly alone. A new report we co-authored for the Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness analyzes executive pay data for some of the country’s most notorious corporate tax dodgers.

House Republican Rules Package Designed To Enable Skewed Priorities

January 16, 2023 Joel Friedman, CBPP. , , , ,
The House Republican majority recently adopted a rules package to guide that chamber’s legislative action that would put up steep barriers to investments in critical national needs while paving the way for ever more tax cuts, inevitably tilted toward the wealthy and profitable corporations. That isn’t an agenda that will expand opportunity or support broadly shared economic growth. Proponents describe the rules as “restoring fiscal sanity,” but they just reflect an ideology that ignores reams of evidence showing that the tax cuts of recent decades haven’t meaningfully boosted economic growth. The large tax cuts have led to higher deficits and debt and lower investments in areas such as education, research, child care, climate, and transportation that would make our nation as a whole stronger. The new House rules can be waived, but this package offers a window into the House majority’s priorities — favoring new tax cuts while hindering new investments.