Good For The Middle Class? Okay, What Is The Middle Class?
• BREAKING: Trump announces new ‘No Tax On Overtime’ policy
Interestingly, almost all Americans who are neither dirt poor nor really rich consider themselves members of the middle class. That's a really big class. But the question is, how do we get there?
One way to get there is to work really hard. But what a boon to hard workers it would be if overtime pay were not taxed. That is, you pay your fair share of income tax on your normal salary. But the extra salary you get for working overtime is yours to keep. Sounds like a plan. Score one for Trump.
On the other hand, we could tax "unrealized" capital gains. A few years ago, our home was worth quite a bit more than what we paid for it. But we didn't sell it, so there was no capital gain, and we owed no tax.
But under Kamala's plan, we would have to pay tax on a capital gain that never occurred. How, exactly, would that work? Now that home prices have fallen again, could be deduct an "unrealized capital loss" from what we owe Uncle Sam? And what if we had no capital gains that year from which to deduct them? Could we deduct the "loss" from ordinary income? Good luck with that.
Trump's plan would be good for hard workers hoping to join the middle class, or to stay in it. Kamala's plan would be bad for those people. That much seems crystal clear. But will this deter Kamala voters? I doubt it. There used to be a radio show called "The Life of Reilly." The lead character was famous for saying, "Don't bother me with facts, my head's made up." That really says it all.
Do you think, just possibly, that he is already overloaded? Do you imagine, just conceivably, that adding more burden will not help him make progress?