Commentary: ‘Trickle Down’ tax bill will hurt more than working poor
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Congress has approved yet another version of a “Trickle Down” tax bill, and continuing a firmly established American tradition, and the people who will suffer the most will be the people who always suffer the most – our working poor.
America was founded upon and has thrived on the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of people who have little or no voice, no genuine economic leverage, and an abundance of free or unconscionably reduced labor. Ultimately, the working poor will be forced to dig even deeper into their already-depleted pockets to subsidize the vacation homes, the mansions and private jets for our so-called “job creators.”
This bill will not provide more access to quality, affordable health care or health insurance coverage or any lasting, meaningful economic benefit for poor people. This bill will not drastically improve the lives of children who live in impoverished communities or aid our elderly citizens in the remaining years of their lives.
This bill is structured and designed to widen the divide between the “haves” and the “have nots.”
Poor people will be forced to decide between buying prescription medication and buying groceries. Rich people will be forced to decide between spending their summers in the Hamptons or their winters in Aspen.
Just a couple of months ago, a faint glimmer of hope appeared as a handful of Republican members of Congress had seemingly rebuked Donald Trump and some of his nonsensical policies and viewpoints.
Yet this past weekend, when integrity and courage counted most, Jeff Flake, John McCain, and Susan Collins did exactly what partisan, conservative politicians have often done. They bypassed the voiceless, the underprivileged, and the disenfranchised in favor of corporate tax relief because apparently the only thing better than a millionaire having one yacht is a millionaire having two yachts.
So if you were naïve enough to actually believe that all of the previous grandstanding and criticism of Donald Trump by those politicians were genuine, you probably still believe in the authenticy of professional wrestling and McDonald’s usage of real chicken in McNuggets.
And in a cruel twist of fate, this bill will not only harm people who oppose Donald Trump. Karma’s appetite will also devour the countless people in rural America, who are proudly sporting “Make America Great Again” hats and believing that the coal industry is staging a comeback. They, too, will suffer for their uninformed choice in November 2016 as well as the belief that this president sincerely cared about their well-being.
However, the president’s supporters, who continue to support him regardless of how much they are harmed, do not own the copyright for crowds who foolishly chose sides that did not fully represent their best interests.
This month, we will celebrate the birth of a man whose main purpose was to be a savior for the entire world. Shortly before his death, a crowd was given a choice. Pick a murderer or pick a savior. Their decision would free one man and condemn another man to death. Yet faced with what seemed to be an obvious choice, that crowd looked squarely at the murderer and squarely at the savior, and proudly and boldly exclaimed, “Give us Barabbas.”
Sometimes, it happens the same way in politics.
Sometimes, crowds prefer Barabbas.
Frederick Adams II is an attorney who practices law and lives in Winston-Salem.
