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Don't bother Googling "what tax reforms are Democrats proposing?" There aren't any.
Republicans, on the other hand, according to House Speaker Paul Ryan, "have to deliver tax cuts to the hardworking middle class."
But they're not doing that, either.
Instead, Republicans want voters to believe big tax cuts for corporations are going to trickle down and create jobs that elevate wages for hard-working Americans.
That's not going to happen.
The truth about Republican tax-cutting plans and why the Democrats aren't offering up counter tax-cutting proposals is, unfortunately, not at all what America needs.
Here's why the politicians have it all wrong and how the markets will react to potential tax cuts...
The Trickle-Down Trap
Forget tax reform. There's none on the table.
While comprehensive tax reform would solve many problems facing America, it's complicated to pull off and won't immediately generate votes. Still, it's tax reform and not immediate and direct tax cuts that America needs.
We don't need an immediate tax cut for corporations because corporations don't need it.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, "The average corporate tax rate on profits from new investments made in the U.S. is 24 percent... The share of worldwide profits that U.S. multinational corporations pay in U.S. and foreign income taxes is about 28 percent."
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That's the average. Some big corporations don't pay any tax, but generally, most U.S. corporations have an "effective rate" considerably lower than the statutory top rate of 35% after employing a myriad of deductions and other accounting benefits embedded in the tax code.
American corporations are enjoying record profit margins, and many are enjoying record profits. They're not begging for an immediate tax cut, politicians are. It's the politicians who are saying the benefits of a big and immediate corporate rate cut from 35% to 20% would create jobs and lift wages.
There's absolutely no proof of that. None.
In fact, the greatest application of capital by corporations today and into the future is into technology to reduce labor costs and benefit liabilities. So much for trickle-down corporate tax cuts generating jobs and higher wages.
The problem with the tax debate today is that it's all about tax cuts and who benefits.
We're all better off with lower taxes, especially if less Treasury revenue reins in runaway spending.
However, Democrats aren't proposing tax reforms or offering counter tax-cutting proposals for the middle class or workers, because they're benefiting by pointing to Republican tax-cutting plans as trickle-down nonsense.
If Democrats wanted tax cuts for their constituents, they'd be fighting for them. But their agenda for getting votes is spending, not tax-cutting.
About the Author
Shah Gilani boasts a financial pedigree unlike any other. He ran his first hedge fund in 1982 from his seat on the floor of the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. When options on the Standard & Poor's 100 began trading on March 11, 1983, Shah worked in "the pit" as a market maker.
The work he did laid the foundation for what would later become the VIX - to this day one of the most widely used indicators worldwide. After leaving Chicago to run the futures and options division of the British banking giant Lloyd's TSB, Shah moved up to Roosevelt & Cross Inc., an old-line New York boutique firm. There he originated and ran a packaged fixed-income trading desk, and established that company's "listed" and OTC trading desks.
Shah founded a second hedge fund in 1999, which he ran until 2003.
Shah's vast network of contacts includes the biggest players on Wall Street and in international finance. These contacts give him the real story - when others only get what the investment banks want them to see.
Today, as editor of Hyperdrive Portfolio, Shah presents his legion of subscribers with massive profit opportunities that result from paradigm shifts in the way we work, play, and live.
Shah is a frequent guest on CNBC, Forbes, and MarketWatch, and you can catch him every week on Fox Business's Varney & Co.
Bad tax law can't be solved with more bad tax law. For example playing taxes against subsidies and deductions.
Big "dirty secret", businesses are tax collectors and not payers. Business taxes are a cost so business raises prices to collect the money that is finally paid by the final consumer as a hidden embedded regressive sales tax. Taxing business is a very deceitful tax practice. It is business, not government, that produces, raises the standard of living and builds the tax base. It is production and not consumption that truly drives the economy. End the "funny business" by untaxing all business and move the tax base from production (income, savings and investment) to consumption. End "direct taxation" with repeal of the 16th Amendment to renew our lost Civil Rights, Freedom and Liberty. America's Big Solution is the FAIRtax bill HR 25. Learn more and join the cause at bigsolution.org