Page 12
November 22, 2017
New Prices
Effective
April 1, 2017
O PINION
Martin
Cleaning
Service
Carpet & Upholstery
Cleaning
Residential &
Commercial Services
Minimum Service CHG.
$50.00
A small distance/travel
charge may be applied
CARPET CLEANING
2 Cleaning Areas or more
$30.00 each Area
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(Includes: 1 small Hallway)
1 Cleaning Area (only)
$50.00
Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area
(Hallway Extra)
Stairs (12-16 stairs - With
Other Services) : $30.00
Area/Oriental Rugs:
$25.00 Minimum
Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) :
$40.00 Minimum
Heavily Soiled Area:
$10.00 each area
(Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying)
UPHOLSTERY
CLEANING
Sofa: $69.00
Loveseat: $49.00
Sectional: $109 - $139
Chair or Recliner:
$25.00 - $49.00
Throw Pillows (With
Other Services) : $5.00
ADDITIONAL
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• Deodorizing & Pet
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• Spot & Stain
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• Scotchguard Protection
• Minor Water Damage
Services
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Rewarding Billionaires and Corporate Tax Dodgers
This isn’t tax
reform, it’s a
money grab
C huCk C ollins
Republicans
are pushing a
huge corporate tax
cut bill through
Congress.
You
might’ve seen a lot
of coverage trying
to sort out “who wins” and “who
loses.”
All that misses the point.
The driving motivation behind
this bill, rhetoric and packaging
aside, is to deliver a whopping $1
trillion tax cut for a few hundred
badly behaved global corporations
— and another half a trillion to
expand tax breaks and loopholes
for multi-millionaires and billion-
aires.
All the other features of pro-
posed tax legislation are either
bribes (“sweeteners”) to help pass
the bill or “pay fors” to offset their
cost.
The news media has been
talking about “winners and los-
ers” like this were some sort of
high-minded tax reform process
with legitimate trade-offs, as in
by
1986.
But this isn’t tax reform. This is
a money grab by powerful corpo-
rate interests.
The key question isn’t who
wins and loses but whether we
should undertake any of these
trade-offs to give massive tax
breaks to companies like Ap-
ple, Nike, Pfizer, and General
Electric — companies whose
loyalty to U.S. communities
and workers is historically
abysmal.
These companies have been
dodging their taxes for decades
while small businesses and ordi-
nary taxpayers pick up their slack
to care for our veterans, maintain
our infrastructure, and educate the
next generation.
Apple alone is holding $250
billion in offshore subsidiaries to
reduce their taxes.
For wealthy individuals, the
proposed House tax bill elimi-
nates the federal estate tax, which
is paid exclusively by families
with over $11 million, mostly re-
siding in coastal states.
It eliminates the Alternative
Minimum Tax, a provision that
ensures that wealthy taxpayers
chip in at least a few dollars after
gaming all their possible deduc-
tions.
And while the top tax rate on
high earners remains roughly the
same, Congress is proposing to
open up a “pass through loophole”
that will enable wealthy people
and their tax accountants to con-
vert their income to be taxed at a
lower tax rate.
We should avoid distracting
debates over whether to reform
one provision or another, such as
the home mortgage interest de-
duction. The real estate industry
understands the score. “These cor-
porations are getting a major tax
cut, and it’s getting paid for by the
equity in American homes,” said
Jerry Howard, chief executive of
the National Association of Home
Builders.
Reforming the home mort-
gage interest deduction makes
a lot of sense — the current tax
break mostly benefits the already
wealthy and fails to expand home-
ownership. But we shouldn’t re-
structure housing tax incentives to
pay for a massive tax cut for bil-
lionaires and badly behaved glob-
al corporations.
Nor should we eliminate the
deductibility of student debt,
eliminate the deduction for state
and local taxes, or require families
with catastrophic health expenses
to pay more to reduce taxes on big
drug companies and Jeff Bezos of
Amazon. This tax bill would do all
of those things.
The good news is people aren’t
falling for the marketing baloney
that this tax cut will help the mid-
dle class. Fewer than 30 percent of
voters support these tax cuts, and
solid majorities believe that the
wealthy and global corporations
should pay more taxes, not less.
But this won’t stop Republi-
cans who care more about their
campaign contributors than they
do about voters.
If the GOP majority in Con-
gress were responsive to voters,
they’d invest in updating our ag-
ing infrastructure and in skills-
based education, as we did after
World War II. Instead of saddling
the next generation with tens of
thousands in student debt, real
leaders would be figuring out how
to lift up tomorrow’s workers and
entrepreneurs, just as we did in
previous generations.
Under this tax plan, small busi-
ness and ordinary taxpayers will
be the big losers. That’s the only
score that matters.
Chuck Collins directs the Pro-
gram on Inequality at the Institute
for Policy Studies and co-edits In-
equality.org. Distributed by Oth-
erWords.org