Kamala Harris: We Need to Raise Taxes on the Middle Class and Force Workers Into Unions
Appearing at a forum hosted by a left-wing political organization and a Democrat-aligned labor union, California Senator and presidential candidate Kamala Harris insisted that the 2017 tax reform law must be repealed in its entirety. Just in case there was any ambiguity on this point, she repeated her position for a second time. Via the Washington Post's Dave Weigel:
Harris wasn't alone in espousing this view, Politico reports : “Nearly every Democratic candidate has vowed to roll back Trump's 2017 tax reform legislation, which they say unfairly benefits corporations and top earners.” Democrats have relentlessly attacked the tax reform law as a giveaway to the rich and corporations, pretending that it screws over middle-income and working class Americans. They've repeated this mantra so often, with minimal fact-based pushback from the media, that they've managed to convince most Americans that they did not receive a tax cut in 2018. The data shows that more than 80 percent of the country did, in fact, receive a tax cut , including more than 90 percent of the middle class. Democratic propaganda may have been effective, but it's also come with a political downside: Because their politicians and their base seem to have internalized a sweeping falsehood as reality, they're vulnerable to potent attacks over ideas like Harris' repeal push.
Reversing the GOP-passed law would result in a significant tax increase for nearly every middle class family in America. If many voters are confused or ambivalent on the impact tax reform had on their personal finances --- thanks to the aforementioned deliberate disinformation campaign (read this shot and chaser as an example) -- their minds will focus rather quickly if and when Democrats try to take away the tax cuts they've received, and from which they've benefited. We've learned over and over again that it's hard to rescind benefits or policy advantages once they've been implemented. And raising taxes on virtually all middle-income families and earners is politically toxic -- yet that's precisely what Harris is proposing. Of course, massive tax increases on working Americans is an inevitable consequence of her wildly fantastical agenda . Republicans should try to get as many Democratic 2020 hopefuls on the record in favor of this idea as possible. They're walking into a trap set by their own bogus talking points.
As for the cheap attack about 'tax giveaways to corporations,' remember that reducing the US corporate tax rate was so badly needed that even President Obama supported it , albeit at a different level. The new law brought the corporate rate in alignment with the approximate OECD average , down from one of the very highest in the industrialized world. This new level of competitiveness has helped fuel a strong economy, featuring historically-low unemployment. The first quarter GDP's growth rate of 3.2 percent surprised experts, who'd expected a slower expansion. Correlation and causation are not synonymous, but it's hard to argue there's no causal effect here:
It's unclear how sustainable the current positive trajectory is, but pro-growth tax reform has unquestionably fostered, well, growth since its passage. Democrats like Harris would not only roll back middle class benefits by raising their taxes, they're gunning to undo the policy progress that has led to robust employment and GDP growth. I'll leave you with Harris explaining how she'd like to turn back the clock by banning 'right to work' laws, which grant workers the freedom to be hired without union membership as a precondition for employment. Thanks to these pro-worker laws and pro-liberty court decisions, many workers have voted with their feet, choosing their own self-interest over the partisan interests of union bosses. This has harmed unions , of course, so Democrats want to go backwards and remove safeguards against the coercion of their Big Labor political allies. They're the anti-choice party, except when it comes to third-trimester abortion radicalism :
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Recommended from Townhall
.....And while union leaders are still working out just exactly what failed to resonate in 2016, left-leaning candidates running in 2020 have already begun making moves to ensure they don’t suffer Clinton’s fate. Both Sens. Kamala Harris(D-CA) and Bernie Sanders (D-I) are courting unions (and their big, big donation dollars) by promising to put a stop to one of unions’ biggest hurdles to securing new membership: right to work laws.
The push to pass right to work laws — generally defined as state and federal laws protecting a person from compulsory union membership or the paying of union dues as a condition of employment — has been growing in traditional union-friendly midwestern states for the last several years. In fact, many suspect the union households in those same midwestern states were the no-shows for Hillary Clinton.
The National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRTW) website carries an explainer on why right to work laws may have become more palatable in recent years for states that have been heavily unionized in the past.
With this is mind, Patrick Semmens, Vice President of NRTW Legal Defense Foundation, sees something besides workers’ best interest in Harris’ and Sanders’ promise to ban right to work laws.
“The comments by Kamala Harris and other Democrat 2020 hopefuls in opposition to Right to Work laws are not about the rank-and-file workers who are free to voluntarily join and pay dues to a union in Right to Work states, but about expanding union boss power,” Semmens told TownHall. “Harris and others know that Big Labor spends billions on politics and lobbying, including large amounts collected from workers who would be fired for not paying union dues. These candidates think that the Big Labor's backing will push them to the top of the crowded presidential field, and they are willing to promise to force millions of American workers to pay union dues or else be fired in order to secure that union boss support.”
They apparently need the backing of Big Labor so badly that Harris, not content to simply ban laws that restrict unions, is even talking about “increas[ing] penalties on corporations that stand in the way of organized labor.”
Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Committee, echoes Semmens and sees cynicism, not activism, at work in Harris’ plans.
“Despite what politicians like Kamala Harris claim, banning Right to Work laws would harm workers,” Mix says. “Right to Work protections are a major step toward safeguarding the right of workers to associate freely with whom they choose. Opponents of Right to Work clearly do not have the best interests of workers at heart. Politicians who advocate for banning Right to Work predictably do so to advance the forced-union dues policies supported by their Big Labor allies. Unions spent more than $2 billion pushing their political agenda during the last election cycle.”..... https://townhall.com/tipsheet/sarahlee/2019/04/29/paying-union-dues-kamala-harris-and-bernie-sanders-want-to-ban-right-to-work-laws-n2545577
kamala has been drinking the cool-aid again.
the federal govt can not ban right to work laws in the states.
But it doesn't stop candidates from politicizing fear and cherry-picking data to try to con people into voting for them.
Actually it could and almost did. During the first two years of Obama’s first term they tried create a national law that would have reversed the 1947 labor law that allowed for states to be right to work but they couldn’t get to 60 votes in the senate.
even if they repeal
that does not automagically make "states" right to work laws "unconstitutional.
it might be an epic court battle but I feel, even without that federal law. right to work can stand on its own at scotus.
cheers
I hope you are right and I believe you are but we were only a vote or two from testing that before Obamacare took all the oxygen out of their legislative room.
Democrats have become very good at all of that. It’s the only way they can win.
As for the cheap attack about 'tax giveaways to corporations,' remember that reducing the US corporate tax rate was so badly needed that even President Obama supported it, albeit at a different level. The new law brought the corporate rate in alignment with the approximate OECD average, down from one of the very highest in the industrialized world. This new level of competitiveness has helped fuel a strong economy, featuring historically-low unemployment. The first quarter GDP's growth...
I agree in total that the corporate tax rate needed to be addressed ( not sure that the level was correct, but..), but to send the bulk of the cut to the wealthy and crumbs to the middle?
Exactly as to making them permanent when the time to do so is at hand. And we did need to change the corporate tax structure. The amount of money from business done totally abroad that American companies brought back to America increased more than 20 fold compared to before the change. Anyone can do the math and figure out that 21% of 20 is much more than 35% of one.
No it is about time the upper castes paid their fair share.
And that would be what? They already pay the lions share of taxes now.
About 50% ought to hit the spot, time to begin paying down the debt. That coupled with the notion that Congress may actually take a look at the budget and reduce expenditures might get us down to ten trillion.
If I'm going to dream ( neither is likely to take place), I might as well go big.
No it’s not. As a middle class investor for long term life goals, kids education, health care, and retirement as well as general taxable savings outside a rainy day fund, my present and future well being is tied up in and dependent upon the economic well being of corporate America and Wall Street. So no, I’m not interested in cutting off my nose to spite my face. Corporate America overall and the top 1-10% already do pay their fair share and I completely get it that tax law designed to punish them for their success will deflate the overall market and punish me/us middle class investors for our modest success as well.
50% just for federal income tax? Then there’s cap gains and dividends, social security and Medicare taxes, and then all the various state and local taxes of all types. Seems pretty oppressive to me.
Spending cuts outside of defense, space exploration, and border security / ICE at the federal level would great!
I guess not many have heard about or understand the laffer curve.
cheers
To some having a high tax rate on the rich for social justice warrior purposes is more important than the actual amount of revenues raised by the taxes levied as a matter of “fairness”.
not many will vote to raise their own taxes... LOL
that, is never going to happen.
cheers
Many though are more than willing to raise taxes on other people if they think they can exempt themselves. As for forced joining of unions, the minority of states do just that. In California unless you work for the federal government if you try to work at a place that is already unionized, joining that union will be a precondition of your employment there.
states have that power.
the federal government does not.
campaigning to raise taxes on the middle class is a guaranteed loss in the general election.
cheers
True and I live in one that does. Fortunately my workplace is not unionized. We still have to guard against the federal government taking on powers beyond its constitutional scope on this and other issues particularly when progressives have any power in Congress or the courts. The supremes have lately been limiting it on most issues but only by 5-4 and they did impose gay marriage and abortion on all 50 states. As to taxes, you are right. If they do raise them on the middle class they will put it in a way that the greedy corporations and evil rich will have to pay more and use class envy to try to divert middle class attention away from our increased taxes.