An independent agency reported on a little known provision of the corona relief legislation, showing that Mitch McConnell took care of the Republican party’s big donors, again:
More than 80 percent of the benefits of a tax change tucked into the coronavirus relief package Congress passed last month will go to those who earn more than $1 million annually, according to a report by a nonpartisan congressional body expected to be released Tuesday.
The provision, inserted into the legislation by Senate Republicans, temporarily suspends a limitation on how much owners of businesses formed as “pass-through” entities can deduct against their nonbusiness income, such as capital gains, to reduce their tax liability. The limitation was created as part of the 2017 Republican tax law to offset other tax cuts to firms in that legislation.
Suspending the limitation will cost taxpayers about $90 billion in 2020 alone, part of a set of tax changes that will add close to $170 billion to the national deficit over the next 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), the nonpartisan congressional body.
The provision has fueled criticism by congressional Democrats and some tax experts who have called it a giveaway to the wealthy and real estate investors, who frequently face large losses on their investments.
Conservatives have said enacting the limitation was a mistake in the 2017 law and suspending it gives badly needed liquidity during the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic by reducing their tax obligations.
What’s in the $2.2 trillion coronavirus Senate stimulus package
An analysis by the JCT found suspending the limit overwhelmingly benefits higher earners. About 82 percent of the benefits of the policy go to about 43,000 taxpayers who earn more than $1 million annually. Less than 3 percent of the benefits go to Americans earning less than $100,000 a year, the analysis found.
The analysis included the impact of another tax change in the coronavirus relief legislation that allows firms to write off 100 percent rather than 80 percent of their losses, reversing another change in the 2017 tax law.
Hedge-fund investors and owners of real estate businesses are “far and away” the two prime beneficiaries of the change, said Steve Rosenthal, a tax expert at the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan think tank.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the tax breaks the working class got in 2017 will expire in a year or two, but the tax breaks for the millionaires, billionaires, and corporations were permanent.
No need to correct. You got it. I contacted Sherrod Brown to oppose it and speak up about provisions like this and the ones cited in Diane’s post. No one in a position with responsibility gives a damn. But they will moan like crazy if most of the public catches on.
Lloyd,
Americans have to grow up.
They have the anger. They have the motivation. Now is the time they have to learn how to be proactive. They have to rebel, to vote, to boycott, to watch their officials like hawks, to contribute time and money to campaigns, and to run for office themselves. They have to start looking closely at politicians’ substance and governance and stop judging them by their style and personality. We will never change this unless we are willing to work for it. We are no longer in a golden age with comfy post-WWII cushioning and middle class solidness. We are back to the 1930s all over again.
And if the deformers of everything public are not stopped, we will be pushed back to the 1890s and 1930 will look like heaven.
People keep quoting the $2.2 trillion number but even Trump’s own economic adviser has said the bailout will be in the trillions (he talked sbout $6 trillion) when actions by the Federal reserve are figured in.
A similar thing happened with the bailout of 2008/2009 (started by Henry Paulson under Bush). The media kept quoting the original $780 billion number for TARP, when the actual bailout (including “quantitative easing” by the Federal reserve) to banks was larger by an order of magnitude (in the trillions).
I’m reading the profound words of wisdom from ed reform’s superstars:
“David Osborne
“Traditional districts are like luxury cruise ships: If they want to change direction, it’s going to take a long time. New Orleans is like a bunch of swift boats: When we need to change directions, we’re able to change nimbly, and quickly.”
Traditional districts are like luxury cruise ships….
I know none of these people attended public schools or send their children to them, or indeed ever enter one, but do they really believe public schools are like “luxury cruise ships”?
The ed reform billionaires can spend their money any way they want, but are they really getting a lot of value paying these folks for this nonsense?
Well, thanks to John Kerry’s campaign, we all know what Swift Boats do.
I knew someone that served on a Swift Boat in Vietnam. Swift Boats were fast but they were also like thin aluminum cans out on the water with no cover. The banks of the delta were jungle and the swift boat crews couldn’t see the enemy shooting at them.
This guy’s name was Bob Kenedy (no relation to JFK). He taught history at the high school where I taught English-Lit. When he was in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam, his job was to keep the twin engines of the swift boat running because if those engines failed, they were all dead … like sitting ducks. He also said the safest place on the swift boat was between the two engines so the rounds ripping through the thin aluminum hull on one side and out the other side wouldn’t hit him. Since his job was keeping those engines running, that’s where he was most of the time even when the outside temp was in the 130s.
The massive engine blocks would stop the bullets from hitting him.
If the swift-boats were sitting ducks, what was their point?
The swift boats were only sitting ducks if they were stopped in the water. When they were out patrolling the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, they were always on the move at top speed racing along and probably weaving back and forth to make it harder to hit them.
The swift boats were there to stop the Vietcong and North Vietnamese military from using the rivers and waterways in the delta to move troops and supplies.
Half the charters in NOLA are failing schools.
Would someone tell David Osborne?
How do ed reformers know New Orleans “changed directions swiftly and nimbly”?
Because that’s what charter operators in New Orleans told them that’s what happened?
So they key seems to be to contact prominent ed reformers and brag about your incredible success- it then becomes “true”.
Public schools- take note! It’s ALL about the marketing. Hire fewer teachers and more PR people.
This continuing support for the wealthy who don’t need more, makes me furious. $1,200 is enough for how long? Even then, not everyone will get this ONE puny check.
Lots of people who desperately need the money NOW won’t even get the check for months.
And some may have their check immediately confiscated by banks to cover debts owed by the check recipient.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/14/beyond-predatory-trump-treasury-department-gives-banks-green-light-seize-1200
And make no mistake: the Democrats in Congress implicitly acceded to all this stuff by not insisting on specific language in the “CARES act” * to ensure otherwise.
*More aptly called the “Who Cares?” Act
The Treasury Department has ordered that every check be signed with the signature of Trump, egotist in chief. This is unprecedented.
Trump wants his name on everything so he can use that as a propaganda tool. If he ends up becoming a brutal, all-powerful leader for life that he wants to be, I will not be surprised if he renames the United States to something like Trumpland or just Trump.
The check will be signed by Trump
Fortunately, I have direct deposit. I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING STAMPED WITH TRUMP’S NAME inside my condo. Ugh.
Receiving Trump message on how to fight COVID-19 was a huge insult to my mailbox.
Four more years of grifters in charge of the government? I fear we cannot withstand the continued fleecing of the GOP and what will happen to the Supreme Court. Everyone needs to show up to vote.
By the way what good are checks and balances if the Senate can insert new content that perverts the version of the bill coming from the House? It should have to be returned to the House for approval.
The House passes the bill. The Senate passes the bill. Then the bill goes to a conference committee comprised of members of both houses. They are supposed to iron out the differences. This is a time to slip in mischief if the other side is not vigilant.
The Democrats need Warren and Porter on the conference committee. We cannot afford to have corporate Democrats rubber stamping pork for the 1%.
The Republicans are targeting Katie Porter. She needs money. She’s the first Democrat elected from her California district since prehistoric times. Send money. She is a super star.
All Trickle Down, No Toilet Paper …
There’s plenty of toilet paper, just not in the markets and stores. Where can we find the absent toilet paper? Stacked up in garages, back yard storage sheds, spare bedrooms, under beds, et al.
Do these people think COVID-19 is Armageddon and civilization is going to totally collapse causing the next Dark Ages? Before they can live long enough to use all that hoarded toilet paper, they’ll need a lot of SPAN stored away, too.
Hoarding is certainly a problem for toilet paper, but another big factor is that the TP market is split into the commercial market (those big rolls you see in offices, malls, restaurants, etc.) and the residential market (the standard rolls that fit on your bathroom holder). All the commercial supplies are sitting unused, still in offices, malls, restaurants, etc. or warehoused waiting for such destinations. Meanwhile, since nearly all of our bathroom use is happening at home now, demand for residential supplies skyrocketed and the companies weren’t able to switch over production and distribution fast enough.
It appears that the manufacturers have now largely managed to make the shift as Costco shelves are routinely stocked (although they still limit to one pack per person) and most of the grocery stores I’ve been to have at least modest supplies.
People are, of course, still trying to hoard it.
Have you had to wait in one of those Costco lines outside of the stores? I’m curious what the average wait must be. Before the pandemic, I shopped at Costco at least once a week. I haven’t been there once since this all started.
In fact, I waited several weeks in March before I visited Trader Joes do resupply and was fortunate enough to show up when there was no line and the store didn’t have many customers inside.
My husband, fortunately, does all the Costco stuff. He goes first thing in the morning and has always been one of the first 100, so he’s never had to wait, but by the time he gets out the line is quite long. I think the worst would be being person no. 101. But once people start clearing out, I think the line moves pretty well.
How early does your husband have to arrive at Costco to be one of the first 100?
Jon, great line.
Indiana GOP congressman Trey Hollingsworth is the total package. He gets a 100% rating from National Right to Life. He thinks Planned Parenthood should be defunded. He defeated a Democratic progressive who opposed vouchers and expansion of charter schools. Reportedly, he inherited his wealth enabling him to be the 12th richest member of Congress. He opposes the Affordable Care Act.
Hollingsworth (unspecified Protestant) made a statement about Covid 19 which follows- when the choice is between lives and the loss of economic way of life, we have to always choose to protect the latter.
Curious how that squares with the political Indiana Catholic Conference.
Hollingsworth’s Democratic opponent was a woman. Voting to elect the son of privilege, Trey Hollingsworth, was a no-brainer for religious conservatives.