Senator Joni Ernst is using Facebook to gin up support for the new tax bill. It is a one-sided picture, to say the least.
So, what does it really mean for Iowans that the tax bill is law?
- Middle and low-income Iowans will see temporary tax cuts in the short term that are drastically smaller than those high-income taxpayers will see — and these will be taken away or turned into tax increases by 2027 to help pay for permanent tax cuts for corporations.
- Millions of people nationwide will lose health insurance coverage as elimination of the individual mandate drives up costs for all.
- The wealthy will keep more millions of dollars that have never been taxed due to further exemptions in the estate tax.
- The Child Tax Credit will be extended to affluent families who do not need assistance, while 86,000 children in working families in Iowa receive a token increase of $75 or less — both expansions to evaporate after 2025.
- Businesses will get enormous, permanent tax breaks with no requirements to create jobs.
Some might recall a longtime radio commentator, Paul Harvey, and his “Rest of the Story” pieces. The points above are the “rest of the story” that you might not hear from backers of the latest tax giveaway in Congress. You might be OK with them and call them the “best of the story.”
Or, you might be concerned about the impact they will have on U.S. and Iowa families, on national debt and new challenges they bring to the safety net, and call them the “worst of the story.”
But they are the real story, and they should not be forgotten as the spin continues.
Mike Owen is executive director of the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project in Iowa City. mikeowen@iowapolicyproject.org
