Re: “,” Oct. 25 guest commentary by Vice President Mike Pence.
As a recently transplanted Hoosier, I thought I had left Mike Pence back in scarlet Indiana where, even there, it was questionable that he would have been retained as governor. But since November and being saved from political retirement, there he was staring from The Denver Post’s op-ed page. As compared with the president, Pence is not a bad or untruthful person (a low bar, to be sure). But this tax plan’s finer points are brushed aside by his rosy critique.
For example, comparing not just dollar amounts but percentage cuts, the rich do far better than the middle class. Additionally, the reported current high corporate tax rate does not take into account the deductions and write-offs already written into the code that reduce the effective corporate rate to a competitive level as compared with the other industrialized nations. There’s much more to consider here — or, paraphrasing Ronald Reagan, trust, but dig deeper.
Tom Rogers, Estes Park
Vice President Mike Pence and the entire Trump administration are living in an alternative universe. The arguments being put forth on the so-called benefits of these proposed tax cuts are designed to obscure and distort the true impact that the cuts will have.
Absent an analysis by economists who can articulate clearly the actual effects, which the Trump administration and the Republican Congress do not want us to know, it’s important to focus on what we know so far: dramatic cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, tax benefits for the wealthy, and little to nothing for the middle class, all while adding trillions to the deficit.
This is just another really, really bad deal for Colorado and the American people — except for the rich and, of course, Trump’s personal gain.
پԱѱ, Colorado Springs
This week, Vice President Mike Pence was in Colorado trying to sell voters on the GOP’s plan to raise taxes on the middle class to pay for tax breaks for the rich. Only 28 percent of Americans support this plan, and for good reason.
Under the GOP plan, middle-class and working families lose twice. First, Republicans are gutting Medicare, Medicaid, student aid, job training, and other programs to make room for this budget-busting tax break that mainly benefits millionaires and billionaires. Second, about 30 percent of middle-class earners will actually see their taxes increase because of the elimination of certain deductions. Now Republicans may be coming after your retirement — the GOP is considering raiding 401(k) plans to pay for their tax cuts.
Democrats have a different approach: focus on helping middle-class and working families. The Trumps, Romneys, Bushes and Kochs have done well enough — they don’t need another tax cut from the trickle-down crew in Washington.
Morgan Carroll, Aurora
The writer is chair of the Colorado Democratic Party.
While efforts to reform the federal tax code are admirable, Colorado city and town leaders are very concerned about losing the state and local tax deduction, otherwise known as SALT. Here’s why.
First, there is an important principle of federalism at stake. In our system of government, Washington has always respected the tax policy prerogatives of the states and of local governments. Elimination of SALT tosses that aside.
Second, in Colorado, cities and towns rely most heavily on locally raised sales tax revenues and far less on state-shared revenues. That has been so for decades as an extension of local control by local taxpayers. The elimination of SALT will make reliance upon the local sales tax more difficult, and this is most troubling.
Finally, as a practical matter, in Colorado, more than 30 percent of federal tax filers use this deduction at an average of slightly over $9,000. This is not inconsequential for local taxpayers.
We respectfully ask Congress and President Donald Trump to retain this important deduction.
Sam Mamet, Denver
The writer is executive director of the Colorado Municipal League.
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