To The Editor:
Last week, the House of Representatives voted on the first major reform of the United States Tax Code in more than 30 years. Like every bill that comes before the House for a vote, I studied this measure and analyzed its impact on the individuals and families who live and work in our community. After careful deliberation, I cast my vote in favor of this measure.
I supported this legislation for two basic reasons: The vast majority of my constituents will receive a tax cut under this plan, and this effort will allow local businesses to invest in Central New York and our workforce.
The average family in the 24th Congressional District makes $55,000 per year.
Under this legislation, that family would see an average tax cut of $1,000 annually.
This is long overdue and necessary relief. In addition to keeping more of what they earn, individuals and families in Central New York will see higher wages and the creation of more jobs due to increased economic growth.
The nonpartisan Tax Foundation calculates the bill will lead to the creation of 57,834 new jobs in New York state, and an increase in after-tax income of $2,335 for the average family.
This bill nearly doubles the standard deduction amount – which all individuals and families are able to claim – from $6,350 to $12,000 for individual filers and from $12,700 to $24,000 for joint filers.
It increases the child tax credit – available to all filers with children – from $1,000 to $1,600 per child, and provides a $300 increase to the family tax credit. These increased deductions and credits not only reduce the tax burden for the majority of working families in Central New York but also eliminate the need for many to itemize deductions.
For roughly 90 percent of my constituents, the yearly headache of rounding up receipts, forms and documentation in order to fill out confusing tax forms will be a thing of the past.
In addition to the tax cuts this bill will provide for families in my district, it will give local businesses the boost they need to create jobs and grow our local economy.
Our business tax rate – currently the highest in the industrialized world – has put our workers at a major disadvantage and lured companies overseas. In Upstate New York, this is evidenced by the abandoned factories peppering our towns.
By simply leveling the playing field, this bill will give local businesses and manufacturers the tools they need to invest in our workforce and compete on the world stage. Our local manufacturers have long affirmed the need for comprehensive reforms, which is why this bill has the earned the support of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY), the leading organization representing our region’s manufacturing base.
If this reform becomes law, the vast majority of Central New Yorkers will have more money in their pockets. They will face far fewer headaches in preparing their taxes each year, and our economy, long hobbled by the highest business taxes in the industrialized world, will grow.
This bill is not perfect and as this legislation moves forward, I will continue to advocate for the removal of several provisions I oppose, including the elimination of the Historic Preservation Tax Credit and Private Activity Bond credits.
I’ve already worked hard with my New York colleagues to change this bill for the better, by restoring a deduction for local property taxes.
When I first ran to represent Central New York in Congress, I pledged to fight to create jobs in our community, to support economic revitalization, and to ensure local families could take home more of what they earn.
These are promises I’ve taken seriously.
With the passage of this bill through the House, I believe we’ve taken the first step away from an antiquated, overly-complex, and broken tax system.
That work will continue in the coming weeks as this legislation moves to the Senate.
As always, I will be fighting in the best interest of Central New York.
Congressman John Katko represents the 24th Congressional District of New York, which includes all of Onondaga, Cayuga, and Wayne counties and the western portion of Oswego County.
For more information, visit https://katko.house.gov or www.facebook.com/RepJohnKatko.
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LET SEE I LOOSE MY H&W EXEMPTIONS;, I LOOSE THE ENHANCED DEDUCTION FOR BEING OVER 65;, I HAVE NO CHILDREN SO THAT DOESN’T GIVE ME ANYTHING;.. AND YOU DON’T ALLOW MY DEDUCTING MEDICAL EXPENSES OVER 100,000 THIS YEAR AND MY 20,000 IN PROPERTY AXES.. AND YOU SAVED ME 250 TAX PREP FEE BY MAKING IT NON-DEDUCTIBLE… HAY SPORT DON’T PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK FOR GIVING ME NOTHING …. WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE AWAY MY SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE TO PAY FOR THIS MASSIVE TAX CUT FOR PEOPLE MAKING MORE THAN $250,00 A YEAR AND GIVING AWAY THERE ESTATE WITHOUT THE PESKY 50% FEDERAL ESTATE OR ARE YOU JUST GOING TO INCREASE THE NATIONAL DEBT . . . .
GEE, DON’T GIVE ME ANY FAVORS DOC ……….
Well said R W Kain , I’m 65 and still waiting for all the good jobs that Reagan promised along with his trickle down economics. Hasn’t trickled down to me YET. You talk about jobs Mr Katko, how about all the tax preparers that will now be out of work? 85 percent of you message was about how great the businesses will have it. They won’t come to NY because of the HIGH property taxes and high wages they’ll have to pay unions. You kept my vote when you stepped up and didn’t support the health care bill but now you lost it on the tax bill. What the Hell was the hurry in passing this terrible bill. If you rioter what YOU wanted the why vote yes for it?????
standard Republican propaganda
“vast majority” get a tax cut … and higher medical bills, increased expenses across the board … but it’s important for Republicans to claim the policy is a net gain for the average person … it isn’t … what it does do is transfer massive amounts of society’s wealth to the already extremely rich. [gotta make sure the word “relief” is thrown in there to make it seem like some kind of popular social program]
job creation myth: we all know tax cuts for the rich do not create jobs … they create even worse inequality and Mr. Katko knows that.
“Our business tax rate – currently the highest in the industrialized world – has put our workers at a major disadvantage and lured companies overseas.” … Possibly the funniest line in the whole piece … right Mr. Katko, those business tax rates that no business actually pays because of loopholes? The amount of tax American businesses actually pay is far less … many of the most profitable corporations end up paying nothing at all.
Oh, and businesses have been “lured overseas” by paying pennies an hour to exploited workers in Mexico, China, etc. Another way to say it is that American corporations, in their relentless pursuit of profit and power, have abandoned the workers of America, decided to close those factories “peppering” our country in order to open new factories in other countries to maximize their own profits (and then find creative ways to avoid paying taxes on those profits).
Katko’s vote on this issue demonstrates that on core Republican Party issues, he is a loyal servant of wealth and power. At a time of the worst wealth and income inequality since the 1920’s, the Congressional representative from our region should be fighting for policies that directly benefit the vast majority of working people … not giving enormous additional money to the 1 percent, wrecking the federal budget even more, and then claiming that average families are actually the true beneficiaries of this rancid legislation.
Thank you Rep. Katko for your proper vote
I have a lot of friends in Fulton. Everyone to the last one intends to throw you out of office. You just cut your own throat. Even comrade Trump can’t save you now.
Well said. He is so proud about his vote. I’m also from Fulton… There’s about 185 of age voters in my family. We all intend to vote no for katco. This (guy) has done for this area. Bye bye
Can’t please everyone all of the time but if I can keep a touch more of my over-earned $$$ then I’m all for it and about the rich getting richer, well, I’ve never earned a livable wage-or any for that matter-from a poor person; everyone can’t be rich…that would never work but being poor is bad obviously, being working-poor is really bad but it must be done by someone….sadly.
My God will you stop at nothing to support the wealthy in America? I don’t know where to start with your phony missive…The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center information says you’re disingenuous. The story is very different in 2018 compared to 2027, because two major provisions expire before the end of ten years: a $300 “family credit” for adults, and a provision letting businesses immediately deduct the cost of all their investments. The expiry of those provisions, particularly the family credit, hits low-income families harder than rich ones. So while most groups see a tax cut in 2018, with the biggest gains going to the rich, by 2027 the bottom 95 percent gets very little, with the gains intensely concentrated at the top.
But these averages obscure important differences within income groups. Some people earning $200,000 a year will pay less in taxes in 2027. But others will pay more, which can be obscured by a finding that, say, the 80-90th percentiles as a whole will get a $810 tax cut on average. Overall, 61.4 percent of taxpayers see their taxes cut, with an average cut of $2,410; but 24.2 percent see their taxes go up, by $2,080 on average.
These percentages vary widely between income groups. Within the 90-95th percentiles, people earning between $225,400 and $304,600 a year, 45.1 percent would see their taxes go up. But only about 13 percent of the poorest fifth of Americans would see a tax hike.
Now with the phony business tax rate issue – currently the highest in the industrialized world – has put our workers at a major disadvantage and lured companies overseas. As you and the president continue to perpetuate the myth when in fact its so disingenuous and misleading because our corporate tax code is riddled with loop holes and what corporations PAY is far far lower between 13 and 21 percent. In 2017 the Congressional Budget Office report wrote that the effective corporate tax rate, that is the rate that factors in thee loop holes is at 18.6%, lower than Japan, the United Kingdom and just a bit higher than Germany. I don’t have enough space to shoot down the phony we’ll bring back jobs with a lower tax rate, lie.
Why isn’t you don’t share with your constituents that the GOP’s tax reform proposal would leave other groups worse off, including blue state residents, we would be paying higher taxes as the state and local income/sales tax deduction is eliminated and the one for property taxes is somewhat curtailed, the wealthy will benefit from these deductions will likely see this tax hike offset by the other tax cuts in the package. The housing sector faces a new limit on the mortgage interest deduction. For individual taxpayers, the rate cuts largely make up for this, but it reduces the incentive to buy and build homes, which could affect lenders, construction companies, real estate firms, etc., poor families which we have far too many here in Central New York would the child tax credit only goes to families with $3,000 in earnings or more, and phases in slowly; some in Congress were pushing to lower the threshold to $0, but they didn’t succeed. Instead, a provision denying the child tax credit to American citizen children whose parents are undocumented immigrants is included. But most importantly for all of those conservative out there such as your self who have been disingenuous on the deficit, the Joint Committee on Taxation has reportedly scored the bill as costing $1.51 trillion over 10 years which would sizably increase public debt.
New York State will be hit particularly hard by tax cuts. John’s signature program “opium rehabilitation” will see its funding slashed thanks to John. All programs in New York State and especially Central New York will be slashed. But John will move up and move on, thanks to the wealth of funding he will receive from his new billionaire “friends” that he just helped give monumental tax breaks to. And we will be left even worse off than we are now. Assistance and grants will disappear thanks to John. But mark my words, John’s wealth is now about to skyrocket. John finally showed his true colors, how much he is in this for the money, and we were just a way for him to get more for himself.
Well said Tom D, and the others disagreeing. I will point out that trickle down economics works wonderfully — remember 2008 when Bush 2 was done and Obama had to put it all back together? When was the last time a republican grew the economy / cut the deficit etc etc. Which reminds me, weren’t the republicans considered the deficit hawks and now to make the rich richer on the backs of the the working person(s), going to explode the deficit? Our direction as a country is going the wrong way. And it starts at the top.
We need economic change. The US economy has stagnated under the Obama Administration and its policies, and New York State is even worse than most places.
Talk to people who work multiple part time jobs to make ends meet, and they have no medical benefits with their employer, so Obama thought it would make sense to tax them for not being able to afford health benefits.
I am tired of the cries of class warfare from the progressives. They only tax people… not create policies that employ people. Why has the economy finally started to improve nationally? Because someone who is not a career politician is president. He has a proven track record of success, and thank God enough voters recognize they want the same for themselves.
We can’t continue to tax and spend. Look around, people. There is a reason no businesses stay in NYS. Although I am employed already, I hope for those who are not. New York State will need to make some changes soon.
To RW, Joe, Anonymous, Tom and friends…
If you are retired and can’t afford living in New York, it’s time to move out of the state like everyone else has. Don’t blame our Federal representatives for trying to fix a national problem, when it is our local politicians and their spending habits that you should be complaining about.
Well said. Tax cuts do not cause deficits, overspending does. If Cuomo warns us about the bill taking away our deduction, tell him to quit taking so much of our money in the first place. This state has a state tax problem. Easing the burden at the federal level only helps.
Thank you Rep. Katko for your proper vote.
Big deal Tom,.. so the debt goes up 1.5 trillion over TEN years. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to how much it swelled during the 8 years under King Obama’s rule and control. When you’re that far in debt at 20 trillion, another trillion isn’t going to make that much difference either way, up or down. Especially over a ten year period.
yes, the tax policies of the past have worked.
From the New Deal through the early 1970’s, when the rich and corporations were heavily taxed, economic growth was robust, wealth was distributed in a much more egalitarian manner, and there were no major financial crises …
Since 1980, since the 1 Percent struck back, since taxes on the 1 Percent were radically reduced under Reagan, GW Bush, and now Donald Trump … all of the new wealth and income has flowed to the top, wages have stagnated and declined for most of the population, the Middle Class has continued to disappear, and major financial/economic crises (most prominently the 2008/2009 Great Recession) have destroyed economic security for tens of millions of American citizens.
The Republican rhetoric on these pages has no connection to actual reality. Re: “Tax and spend” … um, the Republicans cut taxes on the rich and spend … that Iraq War was pretty expensive … so this notion that Republicans don’t spend and Democrats do is just propaganda.
Re: “The US economy has stagnated under the Obama Administration and its policies.” What policies? The Republicans blocked most everything the Obama administration tried to do. How was the economy doing when Obama took office? It was the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and it was caused by deregulation of Wall Street, Bush Tax Cuts, massive military/war/empire spending. Meanwhile, most of the oligarchic Wall Street institutions were bailed out while ordinary Americans lost their homes, their jobs, their retirement, etc.
Tired of the class warfare of the progressives? Hmm … well, when you have crumbling infrastructure, when you have rich individuals and corporations evading taxes, as they collect record corporate profits, when you have a handful of individuals and families owning more wealth than tens of millions of American families combined, when you have healthcare, education and other costs skyrocketing for American workers … you’re going to have push back against that. It’s interesting that the writer doesn’t have a problem with the class war the rich and their representatives have been waging against the American people since 1980 … he only takes issue with the attempt of ordinary Americans to fight back against that injustice.
Inequality has not been this bad since the 1920’s (which ultimately resulted in the Great Depression) … so let’s make it worse say the Republicans! Let’s filter even more wealth (and therefore political power) to Wall Street banks, to billionaires, to corporations stashing money in overseas tax havens. Let’s destroy economic security for what used to be called the Middle Class in order to make the oligarchs richer and more powerful.
At this point, the Republicans here and elsewhere are basically arguing for the elimination of democracy and its replacement with aristocracy: rule by the wealthy few (through corrupt campaign financing) and the elimination of taxes on that wealth so that is may be passed down generationally.
What motivates Taxed/Wizard, etc, what accounts for their confusion? One assumes they are not fabulously wealthy, that their friends and neighbors are working people … so why the abject subservience to billionaires and multinational corporations with no allegiance to the public good? Could it really just be a lack of reading and thinking beyond the Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and Friedrich Hayek/Milton Friedman the rich have given them?
The people of America used to be progressive, revolutionary, in solidarity with movement toward greater equality and democracy … against aristocracy, inherited wealth, and too much wealth accumulation at the top and its corrosive effects on democratic government. What has happened to make our Republican friends so hostile to the interests of ordinary people and so fanatically devoted to the interests of Walmart, Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, and Goldman Sachs?
Every argument you make is based on the false notion that there only exists a finite amount of wealth, and that all these poor people have had their money somehow stolen from evil rich people.
Never has logic been so pretzel.
The American people also used to be strong individuals with a drive for bettering their lives via their own hard work and ingenuity.
Equal opportunity is available, not equal outcomes.
By the way, don’t be afraid of the late brilliant Milton Friedman. Read his works, and learn something.
Thank you Rep. Katko for your proper vote.
Let’s respond to some of “Annonymous” statements.
1) The New Deal wasn’t without it’s own problems (CWA) and shortcomings under FDR. It didn’t get America out of the Great Recession,.. WWII did. And because of factories like Ford and Chrysler, we had factories converted from making cars to planes to win it. FDR confiscated the gold, initiated the Draft, and “packed the courts”. He was responsible for the Manhatten Project. To his credit, he was against Public Sector Unions, but lost.
2) American Business Activity had equally as many high periods and low periods from 1790-1940. WWII created a huge spike, as well as the Korean War. Both innovation/technology and (unfortuately) war created jobs even to the present day. Kennedy cut taxes as well, and increased revenue as a result of doing so.
3) Obama’s “idea of equality” was to put America in decline so that our prosperity would be more in line with other nations in “a New World Order.”
4) “Inherited Wealth”. Does this include Michael Jackson, Elvis, The Beatles, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, (and similar people) or just people in politics like the Kennedys, John Kerry, and the Clintons?
5) I think Walmart is a good thing for people who can’t afford “Made in USA” products, or don’t need the highest quality. I used to shop at Green’s, (along with Grant’s, Jamesway, and the Easy Bargin Center). Not everyone makes union wages. Walmart allows people who don’t to be able to have many things they may otherwise not be able to afford. It’s the affordable alternative for many. Got a pair of $30 shoes for $3 last spring on closeout. It allowed me to spend $27 somewhere else. Good for the economy IMO. That’s called “trickle down economics”, by benefitting indirectly. That’s partially how it works, despite the democrats always making people think that it’s strictly about wages.
Re: finite amount of wealth
No, I’ve made no such argument. Workers and societies create wealth. It can be distributed to all for the benefit of all, or it can go to the offshore tax havens of billionaires. We understand Taxed and Wizard love watching all new wealth and income flow into the coffers of the 1 Percent. Thanks for reiterating your stance. Let’s bring back Louis XVI, eh?!
As far as Milton Friedman, he was a propagandist for the ultra-rich, so naturally his writings would appeal to you.
And just one more thing on taxes. Taxes can be used to either benefit the society or to reinforce the wealth and power of the ultra-rich. In America, we pay taxes but don’t get national healthcare. We pay taxes but don’t get affordable higher education. We pay taxes, and have a crumbling infrastructure. Those are political choices. We the people can make different choices if we had representation in the government. We don’t have that representation because corporations have bought most of the politicians, including Katko. These are bought people turning tricks for their wealthy campaign contributors, in direct opposition to the interests of the people.
It’s fine you guys. The hardcore Republican ideologues of which you’re a part are aging and increasingly unpopular. Bernie has the young and most people under 50. Demographics will eventually bring us democracy and justice. Trump is just a particularly crude and aggressive last gasp of American oligarchy. Bernie 2020 will usher in the new revolutionary age. We got the numbers. Peace.