Does Donald Trump want tax reform - or class warfare against working Americans?

Donald Trump is a cable news president: he just goes where the ratings are.

So after seeing the mainstream media's positive coverage of his debt ceiling deal with the Democrats, he's decided to give this whole bipartisan thing another shot.

Last night he had dinner at the White House with six lawmakers -- three Democrats and three Republicans.

The main topic of conversation was reported to be "tax reform".

And tonight he is having dinner with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.

It's still soon to tell, of course, whether Trump's newfound interest in bipartisanship is anything other than a ploy for positive press coverage - but what about his push for tax reform?

Is it really about making the tax code simpler and easier - or is it another bout of class warfare against working Americans?

Comments

Trump's Ex-classmate Joe's picture
Trump's Ex-clas... 5 years 37 weeks ago
#1

Donny will go to where he can feel popular. His soul is so empty, that he needs that. HOWEVER, if he turns over some new leaves, it CANNOT absolve him from his life of crime, can it? I mean , if it could, then anyone could just stop doing crimes and say "i have evolved".

In the end, we still need him out of office for his crimes, and people in who are TRUE representatives of the people. They are out there now.

Willie W's picture
Willie W 5 years 37 weeks ago
#2

He seems to be warming up to Democrats. There're are two hurricanes to deal with and he can't let his Hero image slip. The Democrats are more in tune with actions that will get him more respect with the general public, and he knows it. Now he's saying that he might have to raise taxes on the wealthy.....You go Don!!!

channingb's picture
channingb 5 years 37 weeks ago
#3

Actually The Tangerine Man is fending off 2 vicious angry beasts at once... 1. "The Media" and its great of job covering the Russia/ Mueller naratative ...albeit only for brief moments like this and hurricanes. 2. " The Angry Mega-Donor" who doesnt give a damn about anything except a tax cut on the top marginal rate (already a bargain and incentive for the worlds richest to be here) , a cut in the unearned income rate aka capital gains, and or protecting the deferred income rule for the Goldman Sachs choir. Oy!

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 5 years 37 weeks ago
#4

There was a Trump skit on Saturday Night Live last winter that included a line where Trump looks at Pence and says, "Mikey, you're the reason I'll never get impeached."..or something close to that. Could it be possible Crooked Donny knows the Dems would rather have him in as their illegit Pres. over an illegit Pence?

Remember .....the Dems could actually block an impeachment initiated by the Kochpublicans. I'm not kidding, reliable word is out that the Kochs want Pence installed.

2950-10K's picture
2950-10K 5 years 37 weeks ago
#5

Outback: In reference to yesterdays reply.....Obviously I'd love to see Bernie and fellow progressives as a majority power laying the groundwork for good government, the sort our founders and enlightenment thinkers envisioned. Whether it's with a third party or a takeover of the current Democratic Party means little to me. I'm sure you already realize a third party will pull votes from Dems thus creating a huge advantage for the Fascists. I can only assume you're so frustrated with the Dems that the difference between a Trump or Clinton in the White House means little to you. After seeing the lack of support from Schumer and Pelosi for single-payer, I'm amost in your corner now.....getting closer my friend. BTW: I did vote for Nader in 2000...LOL ..although at the time I knew Gore would carry my state.

randolphgarrison1@gmail.com's picture
randolphgarriso... 5 years 37 weeks ago
#6

Hood Robin trump care nothing for the people. His plan is nothing more than a misnamed transfer of money from the 99% to the 1%. The amount given to the 99% will be nothing like the amount given to the 1%.

Dianereynolds's picture
Dianereynolds 5 years 37 weeks ago
#7

Sounds like many of you malcontent leftie/socialists are starting to grasp what I have been saying for over a year.

Put down your teddy bear and venture out of your safe space.

I'm not kidding, reliable word is out, TRUMP IS NOT A REPUBLICAN!

Ou812's picture
Ou812 5 years 37 weeks ago
#8

Diane, don't confuse these washed up lefties with facts. One of them may believe you:). I wouldn't want that to happen, I enjoy reading their crazy posts.....there's no way to make this stuff up:))

Edward Dodson's picture
Edward Dodson 5 years 37 weeks ago
#9

Donald Trump (and most self-proclaimed "conservatives") believe in the sanctity of property on the assertion that all income and wealth obtained is earned by its recipient. The fact that this is not the case, that our systems of property law and taxation have since the very founding of this country favored income and wealth derived from speculation and monopoly privilege is an issue deemed too controversial to be publicly discussed.

We forget that our laws and many public policies are traced to the laws that governed the British people, laws enacted by a small minority who comprised (and still comprise) an aristocratic landed elite. The framers of the U.S. Constitution were very much of the same background and position in society. The historian Jackson Turner Main provided the details in his 1965 study, "The Social Structure of Revolutionary America." Even by the mid-1700s the land with the original 13 colonies was controlled by a relatively small number of families. George Washington became (directly and as principle of several land speculation enterprises) the largest individual landowner of his era. Charles Beard provided more evidence in his controversial dissertation "An Economic interpretation of the Constitution of the United States."

The passage of the 16th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was championed by reformers as a way to publicly collect some portion of income derived from the private collection of rents on land and from gains on the sale of land. The basis for a progressively higher rate of taxation on higher incomes is that the higher the income the less is earned in the form of wages or even returns to the ownership of actual capital goods (i.e., buildings, machinery, technologies) and more is derived from passive investments and speculations. Of course, over time, the taxation of rent-derived income and gains on the sale of land (and financial instruments) has been constantly weakened by lobbyists amply rewarded by a rentier interests.

What actual tax reform would look like is quite different from what is embraced by either conservatives or progressives, however. The key to a just system of public revenue is to recognize that the private appropriation of land rents and other monopoly rents (e.g., from the broadcast spectrum, licenses to extract resources of all kinds, or even take-off and landing slots at airports) amounts to a redistribution of wealth from society to individuals. The value of nature's assets are determinated not by anything an individual holder does or does not do but by aggregate demand and by the societal investment in infrastructure that provides or improves access to locations and to resources. As Henry George, among others, argued, rents are the rightful property of the community or society. Collect rents and there would be no need for confiscatory taxation of legitimate private property and earned incomes. Anyone really interested in tax reforms that will yield both justice and economic efficiency would benefit by reading what Henry George had to say on the subject.

Hephaestus's picture
Hephaestus 5 years 37 weeks ago
#10

#9 - Not read Henry George... your brief reads like a worthy reform to me

Who would collect the rent(s)?

I greatly believe in the taxation of expenditure only, with exemptions... disabled, pensioners etc

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