Confused about the latest tax cut proposals out of Washington? Some of us will win, some will lose, but one thing is becoming clear: super rich people stand to super-duper benefit.
And it’s about time! After using tax dodges and loopholes available only to them, including hiding huge sums of cash in offshore accounts, some of our wealthiest citizens still actually had to pay taxes last year — and it really stressed them out.
Thankfully, President Donald Trump and Congress are coming to their rescue. Haven’t the wealthiest among us suffered enough? For example, last month five members of the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune, made a collective $5 billion in one day without lifting a finger, when the company’s stock price shot up.
Which put enormous pressure on them. What to do with this unexpected windfall? Buy another house or two? Three or four new cars? Or just park the cash in a foreign bank or shell company? The pressure must be agonizing.
But isn’t this a bit obscene, you ask, especially when many of us must work two jobs just to get by? How many homes, cars and yachts can billionaires own? Many! Who do you think is putting bread on the table of luxury car and yacht salespeople? The filthy rich, that’s who!
Which is why Trump and Congress are looking to give these troubled kids a break. The elimination of the estate tax will mean the children of these heirs will also never have to get their hands dirty working, thank God.
“The deal is so bad for rich people, I had to throw in the estate tax just to give them something,” Trump actually said. Sad!
This explains why Congress keeps seeking creative new ways to help our suffering billionaires. Perhaps they will propose a steak-and-lobster exemption. No longer would the wealthy have to pay sales tax on these pricey meals, whether purchased in a restaurant or when the help runs out to fetch them. Of course, Congress will insist this is really geared to help cattlemen and lobster fishermen — the working man!
Who will eventually pay for these innovative tax breaks for the neglected rich? Hint: Are you standing in front of a mirror?
Playwright Mike Vogel blogs at newyorkgritty.net.
