If after you leave this realm and you awake with either of the Missouri governor Mike, Andrew Bailey, Donald Trump or Elon Musk, or even Jason Smith before you, well, that weekend in Vegas in 1986 counted against you more than you thought.
Most every religion holds us accountable for our actions. That’s going to be a big problem for today’s Republicans.
Start with the governors. Protecting the money of the rich ranks higher than the welfare of the people. Both push tax cuts and tax credits of no use to the average Missourian. Many working folks don’t earn enough to see a real gain from lowering the state income tax from an astronomical 6% to a merely horrendous 4.8%. Both Mikes demand lower rates and the soon end of any state income tax. Yet, as the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy notes, 40% of Missouri households try to survive on less than $43,400 a year (average income in that range $31,000 a year). Those households pay about 1.4% of their income in income tax.
That same report finds that second quintile of the population pays 4.8% of their income – sound familiar – in sales taxes. The richest 1% of Missourians pay just 0.9% of their income in sales taxes. https://itep.org/whopays/missouri-who-pays-7th-edition/ To pay for murdering the state income tax the Mikes want to increase sales taxes, and, add things such as real estate commissions and haircuts to the things sales taxed. That will cost working folk money but help the very rich.
Same with state payments proposed to private schools. The current proposal would send about $7,145 to Incarnate Word Academy for a young lady’s education. With a reported tuition of $17,500, the girl’s family would still owe $10,000+: is that probable for a family getting by on $43,400 a year?
Missouri’s attorney general has been praised by Donald Trump. While claiming he needs more money and staff to handle consumer protection, nonetheless Bailey finds money for lawsuits against Starbucks (for not hiring enough white males), New York (for prosecuting Donald Trump for breaking New York laws), China and a score of other victims of overreach by a mediocre lawyer.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk? Watch CNN or any network other than FOX News, read any non-Murdock publication – though Rupert’s Wall Street Journal has recently shown some backbone – or visit Politico, The Hill, Huffington Post, or most any news site for a thousand of their recent sins.
Why is Jason Smith from Missouri’s Eight Congressional District on this list?
While few noticed, Smith kissed enough butt to become chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. That makes him a critical player in plans to extend the Trump I tax cuts. Simply put, there is no way to offset the Congressional Budget Office’s estimated $4 trillion cost of extending the Trump cuts for another decade without slashing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, food stamps and school meals, parks and highway maintenance, disease prevention and pandemic response and, long lists of other things.
Oh yes, even with the cuts Congress – starting with Jason – will have to approve adding trillions each year to the national debt.
The Eight District includes Pemiscot County. There the median annual household income is $42,080 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MHIMO29155A052NCEN . Per the latest report [12/24] from Missouri ‘s Department of Social Services, 4,477 Pemiscot County residents get food stamps – out of 14,613, or, 31%. dss.mo.gov/re In other words, Smith’s cheerleading for the rich will ensure more suffering in Pemiscot County and the rest of his district.
As a group (save maybe Andrew Bailey) the current Republican leadership are not imbeciles. They are capable of understanding the impact of their actions. All claim to be church-going folk, so, we can conclude that they are willing to pay the eternal price for their earthly folly.
Let’s hope you don’t see them on the other side.
Glenn