The Homogeneity of Donald Trump's Train Wreck
Is the Donald spreading bait for the non-tea party voters?
If one can find anything particularly interesting in the chaos of the Trump's published "positions," such an expectation would hardly include even remotely populist deviations from the corpse-like rhetoric of the "deeply Republican" types. Nonetheless, in recent weeks the Donald has, perhaps, surprised even his most cynical observers and horrified critics. Unquestionably, if the Donald actually has anyone resembling a campaign manager setting the "topical pace" of his speeches, these suddenly emerging, provocative exceptions to his usual fascist routine must have been instigated as part of a clumsy "base broadening" scam.
What better strategy for embracing disgruntled voters than to propose an end to the carried interest loopholes while continuing his refusal to sign Grover Norquist's "voluntary death pledge" about raising taxes. Matters have become unsettled indeed when MeanMesa begins a soul searching, "self-interrogation" based on the presumption that there might actually "be something" worthwhile buried below the irritating surface of the irritatingly superficial Trump.
Please read further.
Closing "Carried Interest" Hedge Fund Loopholes
No, the Indians are not attacking... yet.The people shooting arrows
at Trumpy's "wagon train" are all hedgies and other ogres from the Wall Street tribe.
One of the "very most sparkly" jewels on the oligarchs' "holy grail" has always been the very special part of the IRS code which protects "carried interest" from ever being exposed to any of the more "rational zones" of tax liability. Should the sacred carried interest provisions every be tightened up, estimates suggest that the revenue increases [10 year] would amount to around $180 Bn. [Read more here New York Times]
Although $180 Bn over ten years is not going to permanently repair the national debt, the same amount of money could, instead, be easily classed as an irresistible temptation to the economic, Wall Street war lords operating the equity firms which would pocket this cash if things are left to continue as they are. $180 Bn is more than enough to create yet another clutch of bad tempered billionaires -- just what we don't need at the moment.
The fact that this prospect has crept into the Trumpy's endless, drawling rhetoric brings up a couple of really fascinating questions about his possible motives.
1. Any change to the IRS code which might end the carried interest "mother lode" would drive a stake through the heart of more than a few of the non-Tea Party Republican "old school" who have been running everything in the country for the last dozen decades. [Not to mention financing every Republican Candidate who is willing to play "footsie" with them once elected.]Trump may have some sort of political interest in "defanging" these avaricious old crows, or all this maneuvering might actually be nothing more than "pure Trump" getting even and settling some old scores.
2. As unlikely as it might be, Donald may possibly be scouting around for possibilities which might increase revenue which could be useful during his Presidency. The likelihood of this second possibility is scanty, but who knows what thoughts are careening around under that ridiculous hair.
Although $180 Bn over ten years is not going to permanently repair the national debt, the same amount of money could, instead, be easily classed as an irresistible temptation to the economic, Wall Street war lords operating the equity firms which would pocket this cash if things are left to continue as they are. $180 Bn is more than enough to create yet another clutch of bad tempered billionaires -- just what we don't need at the moment.
The fact that this prospect has crept into the Trumpy's endless, drawling rhetoric brings up a couple of really fascinating questions about his possible motives.
1. Any change to the IRS code which might end the carried interest "mother lode" would drive a stake through the heart of more than a few of the non-Tea Party Republican "old school" who have been running everything in the country for the last dozen decades. [Not to mention financing every Republican Candidate who is willing to play "footsie" with them once elected.]Trump may have some sort of political interest in "defanging" these avaricious old crows, or all this maneuvering might actually be nothing more than "pure Trump" getting even and settling some old scores.
2. As unlikely as it might be, Donald may possibly be scouting around for possibilities which might increase revenue which could be useful during his Presidency. The likelihood of this second possibility is scanty, but who knows what thoughts are careening around under that ridiculous hair.
MeanMesa is not nearly as optimistic as the author of the following article. [And HE'S not particularly optimistic.] Donald Trump is a "child of mind-numbing arrogance," which makes him a "child of chaos." [Read more here - Bloomberg]
Donald Trump Has A Point About ‘Carried Interest’
MATT K. LEWIS
Senior Contributor
The Daily Caller
The Daily Caller
 |
| Donald Trump (Getty Images/New York Daily News Archive) |
POLITICS
Of all the problems I’ve had with Donald Trump (and there have been many), his recent comments about going after “carried interest” probably bother me the least. In fact, I think he has a point. Why should a teacher or police officer pay a higher tax rate than someone whose primary income is derived from betting on the stock market?
I’m not saying Trump is a free market conservative; he’s not. As the Club for Growth has noted, he’s otherwise legitimately horrible on taxes, trade, health care, and eminent domain.
I am saying he deserves credit for raising this issue — which at least warrants a serious debate.
Make no mistake, we need tax reform. Personally, I’d favor a flatter, simpler tax code. But reforming and simplifying our gargantuan tax code will necessarily require closing loopholes — such as the one exploited by hedge funds.
Tax reform would likely involve other “hikes” such as setting a ceiling for mortgage deductions, etc. This is not a new concept. President Reagan dramatically cut taxes during the eight years of his presidency — but he also raised taxes eleven times to get there.
Interestingly, Trump’s comments about carried interest are being portrayed as an example of him blowing up GOP orthodoxy. But while private equity firms may care a great deal about this, protecting this loophole is not at the top of the list of things most free market conservatives care about (at least, not in my experience).
Nor is Trump’s idea incredibly original. Last year, Rep. Dave Camp, then the head of the House Ways and Means Committee, released a plan that would wrap “a change to carried interest inside a reconstruction of the tax code that would lower tax rates and broaden the tax base.” In other words, the loophole would be closed as part of a more comprehensive plan that would give us a flatter and fairer tax code that lowered rates.
We should obviously be prudent when it comes to tinkering with the tax code; there may be unintended consequences. But it’s certainly an idea that’s worthy of our debate and discussion. This is one time that Trump has, I think, elevated the political debate.
I’ve been a critic of Trump’s populist campaign, but he has done something that Rep. Camp couldn’t do — and that is to get me to write about carried interest. Whenever posts about our arcane tax code become “clickbait,” we all win.
For the GOP:
Not Signing Grover's Extortion Tax Contract
Is Like Pissing on the Pope's Slipper
Every other stalwart Republican politician in office has already caved instantly.
US history contains a number of examples which provide a clue as to what "happens" to the domestic economy when taxes are raised -- essentially none of these follows the "mechanical horror story" relentlessly expressed by the voices in the billionaires' media.
No tax pledge yet from Donald Trump,
Grover Norquist says
By Eric Bradner, CNN
Fri August 28, 2015
[Visit the original article here POLITICS_08_28_15_CNN
Because it is CNN, MeanMesa has correct the spelling errors.]
Story highlights
Grover Norquist wants Donald Trump to sign his anti-tax hike pledge.
Norquist says Trump has made a "good start" by committing verbally -- but not in writing -- not to raise overall taxes.
Washington (CNN)Donald Trump could raise taxes on hedge fund managers -- but he'd have to slash them "dramatically" elsewhere to avoid running afoul of Grover Norquist.
Norquist, the president of the Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group that pushes politicians to sign a pledge against raising taxes, told CNN on Thursday that Trump hasn't necessarily crossed any lines -- yet.
"He has said he doesn't want any net tax increases. That's a good start," Norquist said. "That's the pledge, verbally. I'd like to see it in writing."
He said he expects Trump sign the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" -- but that staffers he'd talked to about it are no longer with the real estate mogul's campaign.
"I think we'll get there, because his staff said they wanted to -- but the guys I talked to got fired. So we'll check in with the new guys," Norquist said.
Trump recently attacked hedge fund managers, saying they are "getting away with murder" and avoid paying taxes -- an apparent reference to the disparity between a 20% carried interest tax rate that hedge fund managers pay and the 39.6% top rate that applies to regular income.
Trump has repeatedly said -- including in an interview with MSNBC Friday where he referred to himself as "the king of the tax cut" -- he wants to shift that tax relief to the middle class. Norquist said that's possible without violating the pledge and being accused of being a tax-raiser.
"As long as you're dramatically cutting other taxes -- it's a net tax cut and overall rates are not going up, sure you can do that," he said.
Still, he wasn't endorsing Trump's argument.
"I think a smarter position is to reduce taxes on everybody else. I mean, his taxes are lower than yours -- let's fix that by raising his? No, no, no, no, no," Norquist said.
"Let's fix that by cutting taxes on the middle class," he said. "If somebody's got a better deal than the middle class, let's get the middle class the same deal that those guys get -- not the other way."
Further Reading - Raising Taxes and Paying Down the Debt
From the MeanMesa archives
Looking for a little "fall reading material?" MeanMesa has posted plenty about these two issues. [For the folks who have already been to this post, apologies. The blogger did something strange with a few of these links, but everything should work fine now. MeanMesa]
MeanMesa Raising Taxes: A Tax and Spend Primer
MeanMesa Raising Taxes: A Tax and Spend Primer
MeanMesa Oligarchs and Their Republicans - Looking at a 21st Century US Oligarchy
MeanMesa Deficit Reduction Cleaning Up After the Bush Tax Cuts Part 1
MeanMesa Deficit Reduction Cleaning Up After the Bush Tax Cuts Part 1
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