Tax
breaks for the rich
To watch this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6efP9u4yAU
Don’t
be fooled by Trump’s and Republican promises to “repeal and replace” Obamacare.
They could repeal it, but they can’t and won’t replace it.
They’ve tried for years to come up with a replacement that keeps at least as many people covered. Their “replacement” never appears.
They could repeal it, but they can’t and won’t replace it.
They’ve tried for years to come up with a replacement that keeps at least as many people covered. Their “replacement” never appears.
So
why do Republicans want to repeal Obamacare and leave millions without
insurance? Because it would mean a huge tax windfall for the wealthy.
Repealing
Obamacare will put an average of $33,000 of tax cuts in the hands of the
richest 1 percent this year alone, and a whopping $197,000 of tax cuts into the
hands of the top 0.1 percent.
The
400 highest-income taxpayers (with incomes averaging more than $300 million
each) will each receive an average annual tax cut of about $7 million.
It
would also increase the taxes of families earning between $10,000 and $75,000 –
including just about all of Trump’s working class voters.
So
what do we end up with when Republicans repeal Obamacare?
- 32 million people losing their health insurance,
- tens of thousands of Americans dying because they don’t get the medical care they need,
- Medicare in worse shape,
- And the rich becoming far richer.
This
is lunacy. We must stand up to it.
ROBERT B. REICH is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at
the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center
for Developing Economies. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton
administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective
cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books,
including the best sellers "Aftershock", "The Work of
Nations," and "Beyond Outrage," and, his most recent,
"Saving Capitalism." He is also a founding editor of the American
Prospect magazine, chairman of Common Cause, a member of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences, and co-creator of the award-winning documentary,
INEQUALITY FOR ALL.