Important headlines for May 17th - The 2nd coming...
Bottom Line: These are stories you shouldn't miss and my takes on them...
Tax Reform's 2nd Windfall Is Occurring at the State Level Jonathan Williams, The Hill
Excerpt: The untold story of federal tax reform’s success is the opportunity the new law has provided policymakers across America’s 50 “laboratories of democracy,” where unexpected tax receipts that are directly linked to changes in the federal tax code have been a game changer in many state capitols this year.
This new state-level revenue has empowered state lawmakers to reduce tax rates on their own hardworking taxpayers, providing a double benefit from the federal tax cuts.
More than half of the states have released official reports on the budgetary impact of federal tax reform, and they overwhelmingly predict enhanced state revenue — even in states like New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, vigorously opposed the federal reform.
Hot Take: It's unclear when we'll have a formal report about Florida's estimated impact. The Florida Department of Revenue only began to study the impact a week ago. There's a bit of uncertainty about the impact of the federal business rate reduction's impact of corporate taxes at the state level (there's a coupling of the two in the state's tax code) but rough estimates have previously shown that Florida could be a top three beneficiary. In part due to the limit on the SALT deductions that could encourage more high net worth individuals to our state. The rest of it's the obvious. Tourism is Florida's largest industry and with more disposable income in the hands of 90% of Americans there isn't another state in the country that stands to more directly benefit. More to come once our report is out but this is a big untold story for sure...
Has the Republican Party Really Moved to the Right? Hyrum Lewis, RealClearPolitics
Excerpt: The short answer is “no.” For the past century, limited government has been the defining core of “right wing” ideology and yet it is a well-documented fact that over the last two decades, Republicans have significantly expanded the size and scope of the federal government whenever they have been in power (even outdoing their counterparts on the Democrat side). At the same time, polls show that Republicans have moved to the left on peripheral issues, such as foreign policy and gay rights.
Hot Take: This story provided plenty of documentation to empirically illustrate the point that the average American who ID's as a Republican, and the party itself through governance, have not only not moved further right but have actually moved left. What's actually happened is that the Democrats empirically have moved left as well, more rapidly than Republicans have, which intern accounts for the greater differences in policy ideas between the two. I'm reminded of what my father told me about his political evolution. He started out as a Democrat from New York. But, as he told me, JFK was the last Democrat he supported for President. When I asked why specifically, and this is around twenty years ago, he said that JFK would be a Republican today. It was the classic case of the party leaving him. When you compare and contrast JFK's policy on taxes, foreign policy and even social issues – he was arguably more conservative then Trump is today.
Given that it's documented fact that both parties have moved left, why and how is the narrative successfully advanced somewhat broadly that Republicans are moving ever rightward? It's classic misinformation fear tactics in-action. It's nothing new, it's just that media and politicians espousing lies and misinformation are more pervasive in today's ever-connected world. There are two easy examples. Over 40% of Democrats voted for a Socialist in 2016 for President. Bigotry is now so mainstream on the left that a man wearing a hat supporting Trump can't even eat in peace without the employees ganging up on him. The question is when will those who aren't Socialists or bigots will stop supporting a party and the politicians that are breeding and feeding those ideals?
Until tomorrow...