New York Times article on Columbia and the new tax legislation

      Yesterday the New York Times had an article that featured Columbia residents talking about the tax implications of the recently passed Republican tax "reform" bill.  Republicans have a way of branding their legislation in a way that masks the real intent of the legislation.  The only "reform" in the recent legislation was to shift income distribution to wealthier Americans and take away healthcare to millions of average Americans.  Providing healthcare to Americans has always been a target of Republicans who see this effort as creeping socialism.  While they have decided that businesses that are doing very well these days need more tax relief they will take away healthcare from a projected 13 million Americans and have left uncertainty of future funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).  My feeling has always been that the supporters of the CHIP program should just rename it the Children and Fetus Health Insurance Program to pick up support from those Republicans who only support health care for fetuses.   Providing healthcare after birth is too much socialism for these Republicans.
       The target of the Republican tax legislation is really a two step process.  The first step is to lower taxes so much that you create large deficits (in spite of their claims of the cuts paying for themselves) so that they can move to their real objective which is to cut social spending.  That second part is something that is already being talked about by Republicans and once the deficits happen they will claim that as the solution.  Watch how our bloated Defense budget will never be seen as a part of that deficit solution.

P.S.
     Republican philosophy of low taxes as the way to prosperity has a interesting overlooked fact that 97 out of 100 poorest counties are located in red states and that 22 of the top 25 wealthiest counties in the country are in blue states.  And that includes good old Howard County at number 3.

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