Publisher’s Perspective

By Tim Douglass, Publisher

The IRS and Minnesota Revenue began accepting 2024 tax returns this week, commencing the season when accountants  race to help Americans and Minnesotans file by April 15. And while there are some changes for 2024, congressional lawmakers are already looking ahead to future tax seasons—with 2025 set to go down in history as the year of a major tax overhaul.

What will Congress be squabbling over? Several provisions of the sweeping tax reform passed during President Donald Trump’s first term in 2017, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), are set to expire on the last day of the year, and lawmakers will be duking it out over which ones to extend. Congress will also consider a wish list of additional tax reductions that Trump and his allies want passed.

But what about the national deficit?

Spending is spending so a tax cut reduces the revenue coming in and does nothing but add to the national debt.  Keeping the Trump’s TCJA past 2025 will likely sap the $4.6 trillion from federal coffers over the following decade.

To compensate, lawmakers would likely have to cut spending drastically, and getting agreement on what cuts to make is always a tricky challenge. And where would cuts come from–defense, likely not.  And if you believe, as the president would like you to believe, that tariffs are the answer, get ready to spend even more for everyday items.  As a wise man and a former banker once told me, no country wins a tariff war.

I’m still waiting for eggs and other groceries to decrease.   Eggs on Sunday were $7.99 per doz.  We were told that price would decrease on day one of Trump’s presidency.  Wrong.  Despite blaming Biden, maybe, just maybe, the bird flu had something to do with it.  But that’s a hoax, right?  Believing that would undermine the idea that only opponents are to blame.

As for gas, which was supposed to drop on inauguration day too, brace yourself for increases.

Maybe the president, who isn’t a king or a dictator, despite his desire to be one, doesn’t have the answers for regular Americans.  I’m sure he does for the top 1 percent.  But why do billionaires care about the price of eggs or milk, or even gasoline?

Even  President Trump changed his tune last weekend, stating that there will be some “short-term” inflationary pain for most Americans.   Not sure if that includes Elon Musk or the other Trump Oligarchs, but it certainly includes those of us who continue to toil just to make or keep an extra buck.