Most hilariously brazen part of the bill: Retroactive capital gains tax cut

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Christopher Hayes? @chrislhayes 31m31 minutes ago

The most hilariously brazen part of the bill is a *retroactive* tax cut on investment income. Retroactive! What a joke.


The taxes it would remove were created to pay for Obamacare. The most notable is a 3.8% tax on investment income, including capital gains and dividends. The tax only applies to individuals with incomes exceeding $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000.

Like in the House bill, that tax would be repealed as of Jan. 1, 2017, dropping the top capital-gains tax rate to 20% from 23.8%. Under that measure, people who sold assets earlier this year, even before they knew if the tax cut would happen, would benefit. Retroactive tax cuts like this don't create an incentive and can yield windfall gains for people who already made decisions.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/06/22/senate-health-bill-gives-huge-tax-cuts-to-businesses-high-income-households.html


Like the House bill, the Senate bill would repeal a 3.8% tax on investment income retroactively to January 2017 and delay the repeal of a 0.9% payroll tax until 2023. Both of those taxes only apply to individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000.
https://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=75095204

[NastyRiffraff]

1. They're not even trying to pretend

This so called health care bill is meant to be nothing but an outright gift for the 1%. Nothing else.

[shraby]

2. Wouldn't that be called an ex-post facto law and is illegal which would delegitimize the bill

until that is taken out?

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3. it's not the first time tax cuts have been made retroactive

...and I know the Supreme Court has declined to hear challenges before to state efforts to retroactively change tax law.

[jberryhill]

4. No

An "ex-post facto law" is an act that criminalizes past behavior. This is not that.

[shraby]

8. Thanks. Guess I was looking for any monkey-wrench that could be thrown at it.

[Freethinker65]

5. Well, be thankful they are not clawbacking any subsidies

[bigtree]

6. do we know that for certain?

[Freethinker65]

7. Actually, I have no idea

I would not put it past the GOP 13 to consider it. After all, the wealthy really do need their tax increase $$$ back in order to survive and those getting the subsidies have more than enough $ to spare...(in an alternative fact universe)
Perhaps that little gem will come up in an amendment proposed by those in the GOP that think the current proposal has not gone far enough?

[smirkymonkey]

9. I can't take this anymore!!

They are robbing this country blind and they are getting away with it because of the stupidity, hatred and racism of half of the people in this country.

They know they can do anything and still keep their jobs because there will always be a large, dumb segment of the population that will continue to vote for them no matter what they do.

They basically have carte blanche and they know it.