To the Editor:

The only significant legislation the Republicans have passed is the Tax Law. They asked you to ignore the fact that this tax break for the rich, in one day, increased our National Deficit by $1.7 trillion. Do you remember #45’s campaign promise that he would not add to the national deficit and would actually reduce it to zero in eight years? The GOP rammed through trickle-down economics, despite the fact that President Reagan instituted the same economic plan in 1983, resulting in nothing more than widening the wealth gap. Need proof it won’t work this time? Eighty-two percent of income gains (a percentage provided by the Office of Management and Budget) due to the new tax law went to the richest (elite) people and largest corporations. The Kiplinger Letter reports that the following companies are using the new tax cuts for stock buyback to the extent of: Apple, $100 billion; Cisco, $25 billion; Wells Fargo, $22.6 billion; and the list goes on and on.
Apple used $100 billion of its tax savings to buy back its own stock. Now, if you are one of the elite who can afford a stock costing $224 per share than you are obviously doing cartwheels at the windfall profits you made in one day. Apple is not using the tax break to raise salaries of Apple employees or to invest in infrastructure. Bottom line, we middle-income people did not benefit at all from this new tax scam. Need further proof? On average, the richest companies in the S&P 500 have increased dividend payments to shareholders 182 times, so far, this year.
When you hear #45 boast that the average income has increased since he took office, he is including the extreme wealthiest 1 percent who now own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. The so-called “average” income is skewed by the billions in giveaways to the hyper-rich that just occurred. But the real measure that matters to working people is median income. That’s the measure of what most working people make, and it shows that, when inflation is considered, you and I (working people) actually lost 1.9 percent in earning power in the last 18 months.
In North Carolina, it is clear that the Republicans in the supermajority of the North Carolina General Assembly are following #45’s immoral compass step by step. Democrats have a slate of hardworking candidates who are ready to work on the challenges facing real Americans — costs of education, protecting the environment, productive job training, securing health care, a secure retirement, investing in American jobs and infrastructure, and bringing back equal protection laws for regular people. We need Democrats in office who focus on us and not the elite and large corporations. The trend towards you and I earning less while the elite Republicans gain more must be stopped. Vote!
Peter A. Farrell, PhD

Washington Park