The Anti-Tax Movement Flashcards
What was the name of the act Bush passed in 2001 regarding taxes?
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act. This includes across the board income and capital gains tax cuts, it shielded more retirement and educational savings, and it increased tax credits for children. This act would lead to the loss of 1.3 trillion dollars in government revenue in the next 10 years.
Was the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act Repealed?
Yes, and it cost 138 billion over 10 years to repeal this act.
What can the president and senate do to pass a bill regarding the economic policy of the nation without wide support by the other party?
The senate can pass, if the bill has already passed the house, a procedure of budget reconciliation. What this does is get rid of the need to avoid a filibuster with a supermajority. You go through the process of putting legislation through as a budget reconciliatory procedure and promise to make up any reform within 10 years of legislation passing. Trump used this in 2017. Now you just need 50 votes, if you have the vice prez on ur side.
What is dynamic scoring of bills?
Dynamic scoring of bills is informed by the idea of what effect will these tax cuts have on the economy.
What did republicans do to offset the need to balance out the act completely?
They slowly increased the exemption.
What was the difference in estate tax in 2010 and 2011?
What happens is that after the CBO did the math, the republicans tried to offset their need to balance out the numbers by gradually increasing the tax exemption amount. This was phased in within 10 years but in 2010, it had to be repealed so that, if it was not extended, it would restart at the initial levels of a 55% top estate tax rate.
Who is Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist was an anti-tax activist who advocated for a massive drawback of progressive tax reform. He helped put together a lot of people against the “death tax” (the Republican name for the estate tax). He helped mastermind the “no new taxes pledge”.
What was Grover Norquist’s 25-year plan?
In a 2001 interview, Grover Norquist was known to have had a 25 year plan to cut the size of the federal government in half.
Who is Frank Blethen?
Frank Blethen was the CEO of the Seattle Times who poured in a huge amount of effort and money into the anti-estate-tax movement.
How did Bill Gates and other millionares react to the repeal of the estate tax?
They wanted to keep the estate tax but mostly because it would but small businesses down while allowing the big corporations to still avoid taxes, or pay the, because either way the competition will go down.
What happened to senators who were doubtful of the repeal of the estate tax?
They would be pressured by small businesses and other misguided interests to put the issue on their ballot. Because of the widespread support, they would not only not lose any support but would potentially gain support for passing the act.
What does this have to do with the Walmart owning Walton family?
Well the democratic senator at the time actually hated the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act but worked in Arkansaw, which is the Walton family lived. So why anger your richest family so much?
How did this affect gay people?
Well, gay people were also against the estate tax because heterosexual married couples could double their exemption while homosexuals could not because this was before 2015.
What unites the entire Republican party?
Tax cuts.
What did Lee Attwater say about bringing in racist republican voters? Who was Lee Attwater?
Lee Attwater was a republican strategist in the Reagan administration. He said, in a 1981 interview on the souther strategy, that you must make racism more and more abstract. “You start out in 1954 saying nigger nigger nigger , so now you say state’s rights and all. You get it all abstract and all.
