rickyp wrote:rayjayAnd it's 34% for small businesses in the US.
And with the HST 23.5% in Canada (Ontario anyways) for small business.
You just can't stay on topic. That's not an income tax. HST is a sales tax, which is a regressive tax. No thank you.
rayjayIf that's the case, why do you object to the rate going down to 20% in the US?
I don't.
If it were simply applied, and if the budget ran at a surplus (since the economy is doing reasonably well) it would make sense to keep taxes low.
What you don't have is a balanced budget, nor is the tax code simple.
Start by simplifying the tax code so everybody understands who pays what ... then figure out if revenues are adequate to run the required services... (Probably are if you cut defense spending to a reasonable level) .
So Trump has to fundamentally change the entire US tax structure, align with your view on defense spending, and balance the budget, and then you would consider to deign to support good elements of his tax plan. That's sort of the same thing as saying "when Hell freezes over." Whereas others slightly move goal posts, in your debating style, you move them from Hard Rock Stadium to the Northwest Territories.
(BTW since you mentioned housing. 65% of Americans own their own home. So do 65% of Canadians. We don't get to write off mortgage interest. And yet despite this incentive ownership is the same. Canadian homes do tend to be smaller. But then 43% of Canadians are mortgage free versus 29% of Americans... Is the mortgage deduction thing actually working? Or is it just putting more of the tax burden on renters ? and perhaps encouraging debt accumulation because of the ability to write off interest?)
No argument from me. I'm fine with getting rid of it, although it's been around so long the transition would be very tough. The deduction which has been with us for over 100 years is poor economics. But the political forces behind it have made it too hard for every president since to get rid of it. Regain to his credit had the principles and ability to limit its application to the wealthy in 1986. (I know you are a closet Reagan fan.) Trump's plan does reduce its significance by increasing the standard deduction.
Ricky:
Economic conditions have been up and down since 1980 in the US. /
Economic conditions have been up and down for way longer than that.
RayjayThe term "living wage" is more complicated than you realize.
No its really not. Its insisting its complicated that keeps people fooled.
If it's so easy, what is the hourly rate for the living wage in Canada? Use numbers.