There have been a number of letters critical of Rep. Steve Knight and supporting Katie Hill. A look at Hill’s positions as posted on her campaign site is informative.
Hill Position: “We need to … ensure that the wealthy pay the same percentage of their income in taxes as the rest of us do. If we did that, we would have all the resources we’d need to invest in rebuilding the middle class and ensuring a strong future for our country.”
Fact: The top 10 percent of taxpayers pay over 70 percent of the total federal income taxes. The remaining 90 percent pay just under 30 percent of the tax burden. (CNN Money, The Tax Foundation)
Position on Universal Health Care: “[W]e should have a system that ensures every American can get the health care they need. I’ve worked on the Medicaid expansion . . . and I will use that experience to get us to Medicare for All. I am ready to take immediate steps to provide health care relief for the people who need it by strengthening the (Affordable Care Act) and laying the foundation for a Medicare For All system that works for all of us.”
Fact: In other words, single-payer health care. An analysis of the Bernie Sanders Medicare for all plan concludes that it would significantly increase marginal tax rates and the cost of capital, which would lead to 9.5 percent lower gross domestic product over the long term. When accounting for reduced GDP, under Medicare for all, after-tax incomes of all taxpayers would fall by at least 12.84 percent. This does not address the deficits that would almost certainly be caused by universal health care.
Finally, those of us on Medicare may recall that the ACA diverted approximately $700 billion from Medicare to Medicaid, hardly sustaining Medicare, which is already going broke.
Position – Social Security/Medicare: “We have a moral responsibility to take care of our seniors. That includes protecting Medicare and Social Security.
Fact: She does not address the issues raised by her Medicare for All position, which would endanger Medicare, nor does she address the fact that Medicare and Social Security are on the road to going broke so there is a distinct chance our children will have neither, at least as they exist. Social Security is paying out more than it takes in, which is also true of Medicare (Social Security Trustees Report 2018). The status quo is unsustainable.
Position – Tax Reform: Consistent with her position on taxes, she clearly wants to undo the tax reform act that Congress just passed.
Fact: The tax reform act has increased economic activity and the economy is growing in excess of 3 percent a year, and has produced hundreds of thousands of jobs, brought people back into the work force and we have the lowest level of unemployment in decades. Additionally, wages have increased by approximately 3 percent. The Congressional Budget Office released its July budget summary. It demonstrates that, as a result of reform, tax revenues were higher (up a net $26 billion for the month) While corporate taxes were down, given the decrease in business rates, this was more than offset by the fact that the faster-growing economy was employing more people who were making more money. In fact, individual taxes increased by $104 billion, despite the decease in the tax rate (and the increase in the standard deduction used by over 70 percent of taxpayers), which included $32 billion in withholding reflecting the increase in wages and salaries.
We can thank Steve Knight for voting for the reform bill by re-electing him.
Stephen Maseda
Valencia
