Trump Tax Plan Taunts the Dignity of Labor

Most of us work for a living. We wait tables or write software. We teach kids or drive buses. We treat patients or lay block. Our income, just about all of it, comes from our work.But some people — wealthy people — don't depend on work for their living. They rely on their wealth. The stock they hold pays dividends. The bonds they own pay interest. The assets they sell bring capital gains.Two different classes of Americans, two different sorts of income. Now which class should pay tax at a higher rate, those who work for a living or those who let their wealth do their work?President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in the House of Representatives have just delivered their answer. Under the tax "reform" recently introduced in the House and endorsed by the president, income from the work we do, our labor, will face higher taxation than income from wealth.The Trump-GOP plan would, in effect, turbocharge a rich people-friendly trend that's been unfolding for 40 years. Their plan would saddle us with a tax code that leaves income derived from capital, that is, wealth, taxed at a rate up to 14.6 percentage points lower than income from work.  Continue reading...