As a way of showing how generous the new tax plan will be, Congressman Paul Ryan tweeted Saturday that a school secretary will now be able to enjoy an increase of $1.50 a week.
“That will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” Ryan, R-Wis., said of Miss Julia Ketchum of Lancaster, Pa.
Wow. That is so amazing.
All because of these magnificent tax cuts, this woman will now receive an additional $78 a year; surely all she now needs to make ends meet.
Readers duly hounded Rep. Ryan for his remarks, which help illustrate the disconnect between the elite and the working class. Ryan then compounded the faux pas by deleting the post, a social media no-no.
The inconvenient truth, however, is the tax plan disproportionately rewards the wealthy, and there’s no way to put a positive spin on it if you are trying to sell the plan as a real boost to the general population.
It’s the top 1 percent, those who make a minimum of $400,000 a year, that will receive a tax cut of $51,000 a year, or 650 times that of Miss Ketchum, because of the reform. In fact, 83 percent of the tax cut benefits will go to this upper echelon.
But shhhh, that steals the thunder from Miss Ketchum’s windfall.
Nor does Ryan likely want us to know that in return for his leadership as House Speaker in passing the tax reform, Charles Koch, scion of Kansas’ Koch Industries, awarded Ryan $500,000. That’s right, six digits to “Team Ryan,” a tangle of political action committees. In fact, after the tax cuts were passed, another six donations of $100,000 apiece were deposited into Ryan’s coffers.
Yes, that could be interpreted as bribery. And yes, because most cannot afford to shower such favors, the system will continue to be skewed against average Americans.
Rep. Ryan fell into the truth Saturday. And no amount of retraction, redaction or recantation can pull him out of it.
— Susan Lynn
