Let’s get real about Trump’s tax cuts

In Trump’s first year in office, he focused on helping everyone in the private sector with a tax rate cut bill.  Sadly, he could get only Republican votes because Democrats inherently like higher rates and taxes. 

Since Trump could get only 51 votes, some provisions are scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2025, including the lower rates for all brackets.

Tax brackets for single individuals pre-TCJA:

The individual income tax brackets in 2017, before Trump’s tax law took effect.

• 10%: Taxable income up to $9,525
• 15%: Taxable income over $9,525
• 25%: Taxable income over $38,700
• 28%: Taxable income over $93,700
• 33%: Taxable income over $195,450
• 35%: Taxable income over $424,950
• 39.6%: Taxable income over $426,700

Tax brackets for single individuals under TCJA:

The individual income tax brackets in 2024, under current tax law.

• 10%: Taxable income up to $11,600
• 12%: Taxable income over $11,600
• 22%: Taxable income over $47,150
• 24%: Taxable income over $100,525
• 32%: Taxable income over $191,950
• 35%: Taxable income over $243,725
• 37%: Taxable income over $609,350

Trump’s tax rate cuts helped almost all Americans and had the added benefit of generating lots of extra revenue for the government. 

It is a true shame that the media allow Biden and others to continually lie that the tax rate cuts cost the government trillions. 

For reference: 

In FY 2017, before the tax rate cuts, the federal government collected $1.6 trillion.  In FY 2023, six years later, they are collecting $750 billion more per year, or almost 50% more with lower rates. 

The reason tax revenues rise substantially when rate cuts are enacted is because people and businesses in the private sector have more money to invest, save, and spend.  The multiplier effect of this money is amazing. 

The multiplier effect in the private sector is much greater than when the government confiscates a greater share of earnings and keeps a lot for the bureaucracy before trickling out money to the people and the private sector based on its priorities.  Today, a lot of money goes down the drain with kickbacks to green pushers who pretend they can control the climate. 

To put those revenue increases in perspective, the standard deduction for married couples has increased from $24,000 to $29,200 from 2018 to 2024.  That indicates a 22-percent cost-of-living increase.  So income tax revenues have increased over twice the rate of inflation despite lower rates.  That clearly indicates that the tax rate cuts not only didn’t cost the $1.5 trillion the CBO said they would, but actually paid for themselves. 

No Democrats voted for the rate cuts, and Democrats still deride them as for the rich.  So would they extend the lower rates if they got control of all branches of government?  I doubt it. 

It is a true shame that the media allow Democrats to peddle lies to gin up class warfare. 

Biden brags that he has been more successful than any previous president in his first three years because he has passed an infrastructure bill, CHIPS Act, and Inflation Reduction Act (a green pushers’ slush fund).  Every success he brags about is based on bigger government spending.

Trump’s passage of the tax rate cuts in his first year in office, combined with reduced regulations and his energy policy, dwarfed Biden’s achievements.  They were raising take-home pay.  They were raising real income for all levels, especially those at the bottom, and reduced poverty to record-low levels before COVID hit.  The tax rate cuts also gave the government lots more revenue.  But to Democrats, it is never enough. 

So why would Democrats vote to raise tax rates when the lower rates generated so much more money for the government?  It is the same reason they continue to force people to buy battery-operated vehicles no matter how many problems they cause. 

Facts and results don’t matter — only power for the government, run by Democrats.

So if you want government to help the people and companies in the private sector, who know that tax rate cuts can help the entire economy, including the government, vote for Trump and the Republicans.

If you want a bigger government run by people who believe that government is the solution to everything, who falsely believe that the only way to raise government revenues is to raise rates, and to continually lie that Trump’s tax rate cuts benefited only the rich and cost the government trillions, vote for Biden and the Democrats. 

The choice is easy and clear!

Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.