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Roskam's tax cuts don't help middle class

Rep. Peter Roskam contends that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act he helped write is working. His evidence consists of anecdotes of companies not leaving the U.S. and local firms expanding operations. Readers of this paper expect more, and so do Peter Roskam's constituents.

A recent Congressional Budget Office analysis concludes the tax cuts will have no impact on U.S. incomes over 10 years. There's also scant evidence of any boost in economic output as a result of the tax cuts, which overwhelming go to the wealthy and corporations. Prior to the cuts, individuals already paid nine times as much in federal taxes as corporations. With unemployment at historic lows, it's not clear how providing business owners with huge windfalls benefits the middle class. More importantly, the majority of corporate tax cuts benefit huge companies such as Apple and Koch Industries rather than small businesses.

Peter Roskam recently visited UniCarriers, a manufacturer of forklifts in Marengo, to tout the tax cuts and congratulate them on seeing their tax rate fall from 35 percent to 21 percent. While UniCarriers is probably a great company with wonderful employees, they're owned by a publicly traded Japanese company with an annual profit of almost $100 million. According to Roskam, the tax cuts are working because UniCarriers hasn't packed up and left. Maybe he should.

Reid McCollum

Hinsdale

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