Tax cuts?

[MtPeter04]

I've got a question for the people on the WC because this has been intriguing me recently. With the recent tax cuts put in place by Trump, and the the removal of the extra tax on grad students based upon their worth, it seems like things are going well for the most part.

Long story short, I was in graduate school, looking to get a 6 figure job post college, and was on track for a good life. I got very sick, and now my earning potential has been dramatically altered due to it. Grew up in an affluent family where I didn't have to pay for my undergrad (IU), and chose to get a PhD where you receive stipends so that it is possible to focus on research (hence my fascination with the axing of the grad student-stipend tax). I didn't get a PhD, am currently living at home with my Dad because it is too expensive to live in San Diego based upon my current salary.

Do people really believe that giving about $1,000 back to someone in my position will dramatically help them? It's going to take major reform, and more than symbolic tax cut to fix the system. Wage increases have not kept up with inflation, and housing is more expensive than ever. If/when I get that $1,000, I'm not going to go spend it on something superfluous. I'm going to pocket it, so that if something urgent arises, it'll be there.

 

[Sope Creek]

I've got a question for the people on the WC because this has been intriguing me recently. With the recent tax cuts put in place by Trump, and the the removal of the extra tax on grad students based upon their worth, it seems like things are going well for the most part.

Long story short, I was in graduate school, looking to get a 6 figure job post college, and was on track for a good life. I got very sick, and now my earning potential has been dramatically altered due to it. Grew up in an affluent family where I didn't have to pay for my undergrad (IU), and chose to get a PhD where you receive stipends so that it is possible to focus on research (hence my fascination with the axing of the grad student-stipend tax). I didn't get a PhD, am currently living at home with my Dad because it is too expensive to live in San Diego based upon my current salary.

Do people really believe that giving about $1,000 back to someone in my position will dramatically help them? It's going to take major reform, and more than symbolic tax cut to fix the system. Wage increases have not kept up with inflation, and housing is more expensive than ever. If/when I get that $1,000, I'm not going to go spend it on something superfluous. I'm going to pocket it, so that if something urgent arises, it'll be there.

Belief and realization are two different things.

I think what happened in 2016 is that many folks on whom Democrats relied as reliable pocket-book voters decided that too many pocket-book issues weren't going their way, largely in comparison to tech companies' profitability, and when they looked at Democrats and mainstream Republicans they voted their impatience, believing in the unicorns that Trump promised.

If Trump doesn't deliver on those unicorn promises, then I still don't see those same voters going back to Democrats or traditional GOP voters . . . because of their "beliefs" in the mindless pablum that the far right underbelly of the country have fed them for the last 30 years, i.e., tax cuts are an economic cure-all, civil rights are to blame for the social ills of our country and nationalistic religion - God is On Our Side rather than the other way 'round - and the like . . . .

When the final results are tallied 30 years from now and the American public looks back with 20-20 hindsight on all this crap they've been fed and the resulting national debt they'll have to pay back, we'll start to get back on track. It may take a generation or two of hardship, but we'll get back on track eventually . . . .

 

[iuwclurker1]

When the final results are tallied 30 years from now and the American public looks back with 20-20 hindsight on all this crap they've been fed and the resulting national debt they'll have to pay back, we'll start to get back on track. It may take a generation or two of hardship, but we'll get back on track eventually . . . .

What is that track again and how do we get there in this modern economy?

- Democrats

 

[UncleMark]

I didn't get a PhD, am currently living at home with my Dad because it is too expensive to live in San Diego based upon my current salary. ...Do people really believe that giving about $1,000 back to someone in my position will dramatically help them?

That $1000 translates to less than $20 per weekly paycheck. So no, it's not going to make any difference. (Those who it would make a difference for aren't paying any Federal income tax to begin with, so they won't see any difference at all.)

The individual tax cuts were done simply for political cover for the (Tremendous! Beautiful!) corporate tax reductions and the reductions for pass throughs.

What remains to be seen is how the Trump supporters react to seeing the economy booming all around them, and them not seeing any appreciable benefit for themselves. That's what got him elected in the first place, and may end up being his downfall (if Mueller doesn't get him first).