Month: February 2019

B

Since we are already well into the 2020 presidential campaign season, you will hear the Democrat/Liberal/Progressive/Socialist candidates describe President Trumps Tax Reform Law as, “a tax cut for the rich.”  Over and over and over.

A very simple and ingenious cartoon was produced by Johnston Grocke, Accountants and Financial Planners. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BomQxCG5VG4

It is worth your time to watch the cartoon.  My intent is to describe it to you in print so that you can better absorb all the numbers and think about how grossly wrong “a tax cut for the rich” actually is.

The cartoon goes like this: Once a week 10 gentlemen assemble at a bar to drink beer.  The bar tender sets out $100 worth of beer.  One way of divvying up the bill would be for each to pay $10.  But the low-income guys couldn’t afford $10 a week. So, they decided to use the existing 2016 Tax Code to determine shares. In this cartoon the bar tab ($100) is synonymous with total federal income tax receipts. 

The group of ten men represent the income spectrum from very poor to wealthy; person #1 is the poorest, and each succeeding beer drinker, #2 through #10 makes more money than the person preceding him.

Scenario # 1, 2016, pre-tax reform: At the end of the evening they paid in accordance with where their income fell in the 2016 Federal Tax Code tables. 

Person:

# 1 thru 4 paid $0.

#5 paid $1

#6 paid $3

#7 paid $7

#8 paid $12

#9 paid $18

#10 paid $59

  Total $100

My conclusions:  those who cannot afford to pay the bar tab/taxes, don’t. The more income you have the more bar tab/taxes you pay. Those with the largest income pay the lion’s share of the bar tab/US federal taxes. 

Everyone was happy with the payment system until…….

Scenario # 2, tax year 2018, Trump tax reform:  The bar keeper announced that he would only charge them $80 instead of $100.

#1 thru 4 stay the same and drink for free

But how should # 5 thru 10 divide up the $20 windfall?  Dividing $20 by the 6 remaining men would equal $3.33 less each week than what they paid in Scenario #1.  That would be the FAIR SHARE methodology.

But, if they reduced each by $3.33, #5 and #6 would actually GET PAID to drink beer.  So, “fair share” is not really fair.

The bar tender suggested they continue with the same concept as in Scenario #1;  except pay in accordance with the new Trump tax.

Scenario #2 compared to Scenario #1:

#1 thru #4 still paid $0

#5 joins #1-4 and now also paid $0, a saving of 100% (over the previous payment of $1)

#6 paid $2 instead of $3, a saving of 33%

#7 paid $5 instead of $7, a saving of 28%

#8 paid $9 instead of $12, a saving of 25%

#9 paid $14 instead of $18, a saving of 22%

#10 paid $49 instead of $59, a saving of 16%

Total $80

KEY POINT #1:  WITH THE NEW TAX PLAN/BAR TAB EVERERYONE PAID ZERO OR LESS TAX. But, when #1 thru #9 departed the bar, they began to compare their “savings” ($80-tab vs $100-tab).   #5 says, “Why did I only get $1 saving while #10 got $10? “ #7 says, “I only got a $2 saving and he got $10, the wealthy get all the breaks.”  #1 thru #4 yelled in unison, “We didn’t get anything at all; the new tax system exploits the poor.

KEY POINT #2: The wealthy will always “SAVE” MORE DOLLARS because they put exponentially MORE DOLLARS IN. But all the lower tax brackets get a GREATERE PERCENTAGE SAVED. 

KEY POINT #3: WITH THE LOWER TAX/BAR TAB THE RICH FOLKS “SHARE” ACTUALLY INCREASED FROM 59% TO 61%. 

KEY POINT #4: “PRESIDENT TRUMP’S TAX LAW IS JUST A TAX BREAK FOR THE WEALTHY” IS ABSOLUTELY A FALSE STATEMENT.

Scenario #3: The next week when they assembled to drink beer, #10 didn’t show up. When it came time to pay the tab, they had $30 (#1 thru #5 were free, #6 paid $2, #7 paid $5, #8 paid $9, #9 paid $14) far less than half what they needed. 

KEY POINT #5: WAKE UP AMERICA, it is possible to tax the rich to the point they actually take their money and go away.  Yes, it can happen.  Study the tax/economic situation in France, many rich people are gone.  They found a place to live where they are not disincentivized. 

KEY POINT #6: THERE IS A FALSE NARRATIVE IN THE DEMOCRAT/PROGRESSIVE/LIBERAL/SOCIALIST AGENDA. DON’T BELIEVE IT BECAUSE IT IS NOT TRUE. 

Marv Covault

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“Trump is a racist”.  Well at least that is what “they” are saying. Who are “they”?  I watch a lot of news and it seems to me “they” includes every democrat/progressive/liberal/socialist who has something derogatory to say about President Trump normally calls him a racist.

Calling anyone a racist is about as ugly a thing one can do. My point is, a person who does that should be sure of their facts. 

With tens of millions of Americans calling President Trump a racist and national media daily venting their emotional outrage over his racism, perhaps it is time to look at some FACTS. 

Other than Hillary calling Candidate Trump (and all of his supporters} racist with zero evidence, my research tells me the genesis of the current Trump racist movement was the riots in Charlottesville, VA on 11-12 August, 2017. 

Several factions of right-wing extremists were in Charlottesville including White Supremacist, KKK and Neo-Nazi. Right-wing organizers arrived with stated goals of unifying the American white nationalist movement and to oppose removing a statue of Robert E. Lee from Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park. 

FACT: About 2 hours after James Fields killed Heather Heyer with his vehicle, President Trump spoke on camera saying, “We all must be united and condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Let’s come together as one. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” Isn’t that what one would expect the President to say?

But, “……ON MANY SIDES.”  There it is, those last three words alone have generated a national outcry,  “Trump is a racist.”  Why?  Several reasons. 

First, a FACT: Many of the protestors were local residents and UVA students.  HOWEVER, ANTIFA WAS ALSO THERE!  The Antifa movement is a conglomeration of left-wing groups.  The principal feature of antifa is their tactics; property damage, physical violence and harassment against those on the far right. There you have it. Two groups of ignorant thugs from the far right and left who are not acknowledged by any reasonable individuals or groups as anything but scum of the earth bigots.

Second:  Virginia politicians and the main-stream media went absolutely off the rails. The day following the rally, Charlottesville mayor Michael Signer, addressed the rally participants: “You are not wanted in this great commonwealth.” Signer faulted President Donald Trump for inflaming racial tensions during his 2016 campaign, stating: “I’m not going to make any bones about it.  I place the blame for what you’re seeing in America today right at the doorstep of the White House and the people around the president.”

Third: The media soundly criticized President Trump for blaming “both sides” and for not specifically naming each individual right-wing group that was in Charlottesville that day.  By not naming all of the right-wing groups, the President was presumed to be a supporter of the right-wing groups.

The medias’ meltdown prompted the White House to issue an addendum to his initial remarks: “The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred. Of course, that includes White Supremacists, KKK Neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together.”

Notwithstanding the democrat’s and media’s biased conclusions, a poll by Economist You Gov showed that, when asked “which group is more likely to use violence,” 45% of those polled said both sides were “equally likely”.

Keep in mind that three months prior to this incident, a Harvard study found that 88-93% of daily reporting from ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CBS, CNN, New York Times and Washington Post reporting on President Trump was negative.  Fox News was 50/50 positive/negative. Recurring polling shows that the negative reporting percentages continue today.

What we do not hear about are decades of Trump’s positive relations with minorities. He sued the city of Palm Beach for excluding African Americans and Jews from social clubs. He was praised by Jesse Jackson for support to Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition which pressured corporations to hire and promote Black employees. Trump has actively supported the NAACP. He made campaign contributions to Black political candidates. The list is long; Google it up.    

Most individuals who routinely call the President a racist cannot give a reason why they believe that.  Those who can give a reason usually say, “Charlottesville” but cannot recall exactly what the President said that day. This is a perfect example of intellectual honesty being clouded by hate.  Better check your FACTS.

Here is a question for those Americans who just like to casually refer to President Trump as a racist……If you had an opportunity to look President Trump in the eye and call him a racist, would you do it?  And if he said back to you, why do you think I’m a racist?  Your response would probably be,  “Well, everyone says you are so it must be true.”  Is that the best you can do?

There is a good and valid question floating around today, CAN YOU LOVE YOUR COUNTRY MORE THAN YOU HATE YOUR PRESIDENT?  Think about it.

Marv Covault