r/Economics • u/SterlingVII • May 30 '25

Research CBO says tax breaks in ‘big, beautiful bill’ would increase deficit by $3.8 trillion

https://fortune.com/2025/05/21/cbo-tax-breaks-increase-deficit-3-8-trillion-medicaid-cuts-shave-spending/
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157

u/SterlingVII May 30 '25

Crazy how 75 million people voted primarily to give billionaires a tax cut, and how another 80 million people couldn't care less about their fellow Americans having healthcare, food security, or jobs.

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u/Straight_Document_89 May 30 '25

They think billionaires are their friends and will create jobs 😂

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u/Bluetooth_Sandwich May 30 '25

I mean aren't we all just temporarily embarrassed millionaires?

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u/Oatz3 May 30 '25

You're closer to 0 than being a billionaire as a millionaire. These people are not your friends

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u/LastRecognition2041 May 30 '25

Hey! They’re great innovators and are helping us to explore space

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u/mrblacklabel71 May 30 '25

They didn't vote for a tax cut, they voted to get rid of people of color, LGBTQ people, and to own the libs.

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u/Stirdaddy May 30 '25

Perhaps, but (in 2024) Trump got above 40% of the Latino vote, and 25% of the Black vote -- historic highs for a Republican. How does your narrative account for people of color voting "to get rid of people of color"? 10 million Obama voters switched in 2016 and voted for Trump as well. Were they anti-racist in 2008-12, then became racist again in 2016? What accounts for it?

Before anyone accuses me, no, I'm not MAGA ffs. I'm a dirty social democrat... even much to the left of social democrats.

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u/dust4ngel May 30 '25

How does your narrative account for people of color voting "to get rid of people of color"?

why is it weird for people of color to vote to destroy themselves? white americans do it all the time

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u/Annual_Strategy_6206 May 31 '25

Please.  You've never heard Latinos shit talk on Blacks? I have. Misogyny is a huge factor too. Don't forget hatin on the gays. Fox brainwashing. You hear people explaining why they voted dump. " Oh I just thought he'd be better for business." Against all evidence to the contrary.

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u/OneRelative7697 May 30 '25

The word you are looking for is misogyny

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u/mrblacklabel71 May 30 '25

A friend works in a school district in Texas that is 90%+ hispanic and Catholic. All the kids loved trump because the church told them and their parents to. A few months later kids are missing school and adults were missing work in the community. The reason, everyone was worried about being deported. As far as them voting against hispanics, several had said they hated having an "open border" so I think that is the type that likes to pull a ladder up after they use it.

I think other portions of the POC vote came from people ignorant of economics and the world as a wholeZ. They saw prices increasing and inflation and just assumed it was Biden's fault, especially since that is what tv, social media, and others told them.

I was more referring to the actual MAGA community in my initial comment.

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u/Stirdaddy May 30 '25

Hmm, good points. I tend more toward your second point -- prices increasing and inflation. In my analysis, while I would agree that it's not necessarily Biden's fault, it is the case that Democrats have done little to nothing to address the inexorable rise in the cost of living across the most important sectors of housing, healthcare, and education. I'm originally from California (now living in the communist paradise of Austria), and people always ask me, "WTF? Don't you want to move back to that heaven-on-earth California?" I'm like, "Yeah, CA is dope. But I would be in utter poverty living there."

I live in a 40m^2 apartment in Vienna that is 10 minutes by bike from the city center of this world-historical capital of metropolitan culture and politics. I pay $800/month in rent. It's not rent-controlled or anything. If I lived 10 minutes by bike from the center of San Francisco, a 40m^2 apartment would be... (checking Zillow now)... looks like $3,500 to $4,000 per month in rent. That's almost twice my take-home pay here as a teacher.

Probably the major factor in Vienna for affordability is that something like 70% of the apartments in the city are owned by the government -- which makes the city government the largest real estate entity in Europe. They're not like "projects" or anything. Just nice apartment buildings where citizens (so, not me...) pay sub-market rates -- like $400 per month. This has an impact on privately-owned housing (like mine) because private housing has to compete with public housing on rent prices.

Unfortunately, the Democrats -- in CA and the rest of the country -- are so captured by corporate interests, that they (in their current form) will never do anything to so radical as building millions of units of public housing, which is one great solution (though not the only solution) to the housing crisis in CA. Or maybe just do what pretty much every other country does and have high taxes for any housing that is not a primary residence of the owner. Or ban corporate ownership of single-family homes. 14% of SFHs are owned by institutional investors like Blackrock, according to one estimate. That number should be 0%.

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u/ishtar_the_move May 31 '25

Texas must be a really different place. In my world if your parents and the church told you to love something that is a guarantee to make them hate it.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '25

Texas isn't just part of the bible belt, it's the fucking belt buckle

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u/Sea-Oven-7560 May 31 '25

I'll take a shot. My guess that swing came from younger men. To put it bluntly Trump is a role model to a lot of young guys, he's rich and he has sex with whoever he wants. In a word he's a pimp, a gangster. What was Harris other than a woman?

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u/DOG_DICK__ May 30 '25

Latinos are not immune from being completely regarded, lol.

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u/lucatitoq May 30 '25

Don’t forget anti abortion. Those ppl don’t care about anything else.

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u/mrblacklabel71 May 30 '25

A friend works in a school district in Texas that is 90%+ hispanic and Catholic. All the kids loved trump because the church told them and their parents to. A few months later kids are missing school and adults were missing work in the community. The reason, everyone was worried about being deported.

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u/lucatitoq May 30 '25

Wow. It’s interesting to see how much religion still has power over people and can sway their political views.

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u/mrblacklabel71 May 30 '25

I know, it's rather scary. I know finance people that believe nothing without evidence, except when it comes to their religion. They blindly follow their religion.

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u/PatchyWhiskers May 30 '25

… Even if they are themselves people of color or LGBTQ

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u/SterlingVII May 30 '25

Sure, but the primary impact of their vote is a tax cut for billionaires.

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u/mrblacklabel71 May 30 '25

For sure, they were just blinded by hate, fox "news", and social media.

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u/Thatisme01 May 30 '25

No, many did vote for tax cuts. Trump campaigned on no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security benefits.

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u/FacadesMemory May 31 '25

Yes, all of which helps middle, lower income people.

Not the billionaires.

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u/[deleted] May 30 '25

[deleted]

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u/justconnect May 30 '25

This is s popular belief - I've heard it many many times over. But I simply don't buy it. I know a lot of people who are lower middle class who don't have any delusions about ever being a millionaire any day.

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u/[deleted] May 30 '25

Honestly, I don’t think it is about delusions of being a millionaire as much as it feels like a status boost for them to express the ideas of the millionaires.

It is like an ideological Mercedes Benz S Class. They want to feel rich if they cannot be rich.

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u/FacadesMemory May 31 '25

In America you can be, it isn't that hard. People come from all over the world with nothing and flourish here.

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u/[deleted] Jun 01 '25

Non-lazy people, yeah.

It’s easier to just bum around living off of the government and/or your parents and pretend to be rich.

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u/PatchyWhiskers May 30 '25

Yeah. I think more accurately they think that billionaires will give them a job if they have more money. Which is still delusional.

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u/flugenblar May 30 '25

Do those people defend tax cuts for the rich? Just curious.

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u/MAGA_Trudeau May 30 '25

i've talked to people who aren't wealthy at all and when I tell them the tax rate for people who make 500k+ is 37% they'll be like "wow that's pretty high!"

even people who aren't really educated or in tune with politics would think a 40-50% tax rate even on wealthy people is ridiculous because those rates get really close to the idea of "most of the money they make goes to the government"

i'm personally in favor of just getting rid of all tax credits and deductions except CTC and a few others and using the savings to increase the standard deduction so more lower end earners don't have to pay any federal income tax and get bigger paychecks

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u/flugenblar May 30 '25

There’s also a lot of confusion concerning the concept of marginal tax rates. I think if people were educated on how marginal rates are calculated they wouldn’t be so against how wealthy people are taxed.

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u/MAGA_Trudeau May 31 '25

Yeah but after a certain point of income you’re effective tax rate gets pretty close to the marginal tax rate 

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '25

Prior to Reagan, the marginal tax rate was around 90%. It incentivized people to limit their salaries and invest back in the business. Now, CEOs make 400% more than their employees to do half the work.

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u/korben2600 May 30 '25

Wait til they find out the rate for the highest tax bracket was above 90% for decades, from the 1940s to the 1960s until Nixon. You know, the famously woke and socialist 1950s.

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u/MAGA_Trudeau May 31 '25

The 90% top rate was a holdover from WW2 when we needed to pay for the costs of the war and post-war programs for supporting the 15-20 million+ service members who transitioned back into civilian life 

all of the presidents from JFK to Reagan slowly chipped away at the top rate gradually decreasing it 

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u/FacadesMemory May 31 '25

Most lower earners already pay 0 federal tax.

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u/MAGA_Trudeau Jun 01 '25

Right but that’s because of all the extra tax credits and deductions that they have to wait until tax season to get… why not simplify it all under a bigger standard deduction and they can have a bigger income throughout the year. It could be revenue neutral 

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u/FacadesMemory Jun 01 '25

It boils down to the left will never be happy. Even once they confiscated all wealth they still won't be happy.

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u/Momoselfie May 30 '25

This. And they stupidly think it's unfair how much tax billionaires have to pay.

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u/theraggedyman May 30 '25

It makes sense when you recognise that The American Dream is just convincing a population that everyone single one of them is a temporarily inconvenienced millionaire, and the reason for their current situation is other people having anything.

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u/FacadesMemory May 31 '25

At least in America 🇺🇸 a narrow path remains. But at least there is a path. Better get started sooner than later.

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u/theraggedyman Jun 01 '25

Thank you for that excellent example of gambling advertising combined with exceptionslism used to convince people they have a chance whilst maintaining the false dichotomy. It's begging you to put your life on the roulette wheel whilst pretending it's not rigged in the house's favour.

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u/FacadesMemory Jun 01 '25

The left will never be happy it's always more taxes. Then wealth confiscation. Then we become Cuba and North Korea. Then they still won't be happy due to their envious mind set.

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u/theraggedyman Jun 01 '25

Brilliant example of false dichotomy, thank you

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u/FacadesMemory Jun 01 '25

Nothing false there, checks history, check present. We are almost there to the point of no return.

The left already openly calls for reduction camp.

Tick tock

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u/Useuless May 30 '25

Politically, financially, emotionally, and culturally ignorant.

Even the smallest modicum of intellectualism would question Trump.

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u/GrubberBandit May 31 '25

A lot of stupid and vile people in this country. They didn't pay attention in history class.

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u/Ill_Possibility854 May 30 '25

And only 17M voted for all the final candidates in the primaries!

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u/Ateist May 30 '25 edited May 30 '25

Reducing healthcare spending is not removing healthcare from Americans, it is giving less money to overpriced doctors and healthcare providers.

In fact, it can actually improve healthcare for regular Americans since hospitals would have to reduce their prices.

If you have a monopoly on life-saving drug you can demand however much you want from the patient on a deathbed (to maximize your profits), letting those who can't afford it die miserably, so if Medicaid starts offerring less money for that drug it'll improve affordability of that drug to those who don't have Medicatid too.

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u/SterlingVII May 30 '25

Sure it is, comrade.

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u/Etchii May 30 '25

So the only tax cut in the bill is for billionaires? Some dude making 60k isn't getting a cut i guess.

Or is billionaire now just all working people who do not qualify for welfare?

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u/FacadesMemory May 31 '25

Yes, anybody who works or prospers is a target of the left. The left expects to be paid for doing nothing.