Among the annoying ads running in the 2024 presidential campaign, I’m particularly bothered by the Harris-Walz commercials blasting Donald Trump’s alleged tax cuts for “millionaires and billionaires” enacted during his presidential administration. The Harris-Walz campaign promises to “roll back Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.”
I detest these ads for two reasons: First, I’ve always loathed class warfare. It’s the slimy tactic of Marxists and socialists. Unfortunately, liberals have peddled it shamelessly since the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan made huge changes to the federal income tax system via his 1981 and 1986 tax reforms. Those Reagan changes were substantial, and with substantial bipartisan backing. Reagan’s August 1981 tax act was supported by the vast majority of Democrats in the House and Senate, including Sen. Joe Biden. The Washington Post called it “one of the most remarkable demonstrations of presidential leadership in modern history.”
Reagan cut the top tax bracket from a staggering 70% to 28% and consolidated 16 tax brackets into just two: 28% and 15%. The Reagan cuts were remarkable, and far more significant than what Trump did with income taxes as president.
In fact, that’s the other reason I’m disgusted by the Harris-Walz ads, namely: Trump as president really didn’t cut taxes much at all. I wanted far more significant cuts. What Trump actually did was minor.
To see that doesn’t require much research. Google “Trump tax cuts.” You’ll need to wade through various partisan polemics, but finding the table listing the change in federal income tax rates from 2017 to 2018 isn’t difficult. You’ll be surprised to see nothing especially striking. There remained six brackets after the Trump tax cuts. Prior to the cuts, the bracket percentages ranged from 10% to 39.6%, with the highest income level at $418,401. With the cuts, the new rates ranged from 10% to 37%, with the highest income level at $500,001. A notable difference was the second highest tier of 35%. Prior to Trump, you were in the 35% bracket if your salary ranged from $416,701 to $418,400. After Trump’s changes, the 35% bracket changed to a much broader $200,001 to $500,000.
If you look closely at the brackets, you’ll see some higher-income people experienced cuts in rates whereas others faced increases. It was a mixed bag. In truth, Trump couldn’t do huge cuts because the percentages weren’t terribly high when he entered office to begin with. Reagan was able to cut far deeper because the rates had been far higher.
That aside, I’d like to call attention to some additional data on taxes that are especially important. They reveal just how awful the Democrats have been with the class-warfare claptrap.
Here’s the reality about who pays what: The top 1% of income earners in America pay 42% of all federal income taxes. Yes, think about that. The top 10% pay 74%; that is, almost three quarters of total federal income tax revenue. The top 25% pay 89%.
How much do the less wealthy pay? The bottom 50% of income earners in America pay only 2.3% of federal income tax. A pittance.
In sum, the wealthy are paying their “fair share.” Harris-Walz are merely ripping a page from the Democrats’ old class-warfare playbook that their party goes to every four years, regardless of the Republican opponent. It’s shameless.