Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee, let’s talk facts.
This country experienced a $666 billion deficit in the year ending October 2017. This was an increase from $585 billion in 2016, a 13.8 percent increase year to year. The actual deficit was $700 billion because the government borrows more than the “deficit.”
Goldman Sachs estimates the deficit will hit $750 billion in 2018, $900 billion in 2019 and $1.025 trillion in 2020. This does not include your tax plan.
This is stunning and it seems to me, you are responsible. As of Nov. 9, the debt owed by our government is $20.5 trillion as of Nov. 9.
You are proposing a reduction in corporate taxes from 35 percent to 20 percent in the midst of a very healthy economy. Actual tax rate after exemptions for top American corporations is 21.5 percent and you want to cut this in half? This makes no sense to me and I cannot find a single credible source that supports this (trickle down theory) assertion that it produces wealth across the board.
You are proposing to do away with the estate tax, something that would add $2.5 billion to the deficit yearly. This is a gift to the extremely wealthy who least need it, and you are doing so in the midst of a runaway deficit.
The claim that the middle class will benefit is known to you by now as being false, I would hope.
I can only come to two possible conclusions. One is that you are very, very bad with accounting. I know you both to be smart so I’ll discard that possibility. The other option is that your first and last regard is to provide monetary windfalls to your benefactors in the midst of runaway inflation and that, sirs, is as irresponsible as it gets. This is a burden the middle class will have to pay for down the road, as you well know.
I would certainly welcome a rebuttal as long as it’s from credible sources. If you don’t wish to acknowledge and reply then I have to assume this is uncomfortably accurate?
Steven Wall, Sandy