Here & Now

On the Issues: Tax Cuts

Frederica Freyberg:
President Trump signed tax cuts into law in late 2017. Over 10 years, the cost of those cuts and changes is projected at $1.5 trillion. That’s the reduction in federal revenues. Average taxpayers are projected to see about a $1600 reduction in 2018. More for higher income people. We hear now from the candidates on the tax cuts. Starting with Tammy Baldwin and then Leah Vukmir.

Tammy Baldwin:
83% of the tax measure went to the top 1% in the individual side and very profitable multi-national corporations and others on the corporate side. Actually gave corporations more than they asked for, leaving over a trillion-dollar hole in our nation’s budget. We were told it would trickle down, but I haven’t seen the sort of pay raises and investments in manufacturing that I was told or, you know, that was part of what was touted. And lastly, with this hole in our budget now, of a trillion dollars, there are people who are talking about cutting Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. The safety nets for a secure retirement for somebody who’s worked hard their whole life. That is absolutely unacceptable to me.

Leah Vukmir:
The tax cuts are going to — they already are spurring the economy and it’s going to take some time for it continue to do so. I talk to folks all across the state who are thrilled to have that extra money in their pockets to do with as they see fit for their families. And that’s why I advocate for these tax cuts to be permanent. And I think we are going to see that the economy will continue to grow, not only with the tax cuts but also with the regulatory reform that the president and Congress have been enacting. This a key important thing. And we saw the same thing here in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
The classic split between a Republican and a Democrat on tax cuts. Tax cuts versus spending or service cuts. And yet how are opinions kind of shifting on this?

Shawn Johnson:
You know, I guess a good test will be in, you know, less than two months. But there has been some indication in public polling that, you know, people would rather pay for services than get more tax cuts, at least in state issues here this Wisconsin, for example. They’d rather have more money go to schools than to tax cuts. Obviously we’re talking about federal tax cuts here. But you hear very similar arguments from Leah Vukmir who is completely in support of tax cut and says Tammy Baldwin doesn’t want to put that money back in your pocket, I do. And that these are working. And really this is the big bill that Republicans were able to pass during these couple years of Republican control in Washington. So makes sense that they would be talking about it. Tammy Baldwin is taking the argument that Democrats took from the get-go on these tax cuts. That they are for the wealthy and that services you value, social security, Medicare, could be cut.

Frederica Freyberg:
Now, another big issue that affects Wisconsin as well as the rest of the country and frankly the world are tariffs. Tariffs are a tax by another name. You’ve done some reporting on that.

Laurel White:
Absolutely. And what’s interesting there is that while we’re seeing a very traditional Democrat and Republican message on taxes, we’re not quite seeing that with tariffs. So Leah Vukmir is running very close to the president on the issue. She says that China’s been eating our lunch and we need to take action. But Tammy Baldwin is sort of departing from other Democrats in that she’s not denouncing the tariffs as a whole. She’s saying that it’s wise to step up and tell bad actors like China that they can’t continue to do what they’re doing, but she says the president needs to do more to target those tariffs, to make sure that our trade allies aren’t affected.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because it is a big issue, as we know, in Wisconsin with all of our manufacturing and agriculture as well.