linnposts.com

I realize as you do that facts don’t matter to 40% of the electorate, but we cannot stop using them to refute their false claims. Here are some additional facts to add to the ones I provided last time.

The 2017 Republican Tax Cut

– Republicans said the cuts would give new money to corporations to be used to increase worker pay and to hire new workers. Here’s the record on that.

– Thus far 433 of the Fortune 500 companies have spent $305 billion to buy back their own stock and to finance mergers, a figure that will climb to over $1.22 trillion by the end of 2018. (Source: CNBC)

– The amount spent on hiring new workers and increasing wages is less than $131 billion for all workers combined, with no plans to spend more. (Ibid.)

– Those figures break down as follows: Since the tax cut fifty-six percent (56%) of workers in those Fortune 500 companies have seen no wage increase. Only 4.6% have or will receive any increase in pay or a one time bonus. Actual wages are up only 2.7 percent over the last 12 months. (Source: Americans for Tax Fairness)

– Because of rising gas prices (and heating oil this winter), actual spending power for most Americans is declining, with this tend predicted to continue for the foreseeable future. (Source: Americans for Tax Fairness)

– Because of the Republican tax cut, the break down in savings on taxes paid this year by American families looks like this: Those earning $25,000 or less saved on average about $60; those making between $48,600 and $86,100 saved around $930; families in the top 1 percent saved on average $51,140. (Source: Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center)

– Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, said before the tax cut was passed: “Not only will this tax plan pay for itself, but it will pay down debt.” According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in the current fiscal year (Oct.-Sept), the federal government will spend $912 billion more than it takes in through taxes because of the 2017 Republican cut.

Black Unemployment

– Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a news briefing that only 195,000 jobs for black workers was created during Obama’s eight years. Later she tweeted a correction, saying she got the time period wrong, but gave no details. Here is what she should have said: 3.2 million jobs for black workers were created during Obama’s eight years, with three of those years spent trying to save the economy from total collapse.

– Black unemployment was 7.8% when Trump took office. It has dropped to 6.8%, the lowest since 1972, but here’s the thing. This decline continues a seven year trend that started in 2011.

– The 1% drop under Trump also continues similar yearly drops. In 2013 it went down 1.8%, 1.9% in 2014, 1.5 % in 2015, and 1% in 2016. (Source: Factcheck.org)

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

To hear Trump and Republicans talk, Obamacare is “the enemy of the people” along with the press. In truth, the problems it does have could have already been fixed had Trump and the Republican Congress not refused to do so. Worse, they have done and are doing everything they can to make it financially unsustainable. Yet it is still working pretty well given the Republican assault on, as the facts below show.

– Between 2010 and 2016 Obamacare led to a 50% drop in personal bankruptcies caused by medical costs. Thousands of Americans kept their homes because of this change who would have otherwise lost them.

– In 2016 seven out of ten marketplace customers got a plan for less than $75, and 8 out of 10 less than $100!

– As of 2018 one of every two Americans have a condition insurance companies labeled “pre-existing” before Obamacare. In the name of “offering people more options,” Trump is opening the door to companies once again using pre-existing conditions to deny coverage.

– In 2016 the uninsured rate fell to its lowest level in history. Under Trump it is climbing once again.

– Because of Trump’s efforts to undermine Obamacare, Attorneys Generals from twelve (12) states are suing to stop him from abusing his power in this way. (Source: Obamacare Facts – obamacarefacts.com)

And the list goes on.