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"A working class hero is something to be / If you want to be a hero well just follow me"
Trump made an interesting proposal recently to end taxes on overtime wages. I think this proposal is a non-starter for practical reasons, but is still directionally correct. Ending taxes on overtime wages is intended to help the working class. And the working class in America are not being given a fair shake. Our society feels as if it is run for the benefit of retirees and people with fake email jobs. We need to take action to rectify this.
Despite what some people may say, blue collar work is awful. It pays little, it's hard on your body, it's often hourly (so no pay when you take off to go to the dentist), the benefits are typically bad, etc.. While some people can get rich by operating a business providing blue collar services, this is an extremely hard and frustrating path. Is it any wonder that young people only want white collar jobs?
The Democratic Party solution for this is of course more welfare for the working poor. I think this policy is deeply destructive as it disincentives labor, and creates a captive class who are dependent on the government to live. (This might be a feature, not a bug, to some Democrats who envision a permanent ruling majority).
But I think a more constructive way forward is to increase the value of blue collar work. Tariffs help with this, even if they reduce overall prosperity. This overtime proposal is interesting since it only rewards people who are already working more than 40 hours a week. And it will, of course, hit mostly blue collar workers.
And, with that, the party alignment feels complete. Trump is winning among blue collar workers by nearly 20 points, and losing among white collar workers by similar margins. Democrats are promising subsidies for white collar workers such as student loan forgiveness. Trump is promising to reward his own base. Personally, if we're buying votes, I think Trump's proposals are better.
Who. Whom.
The trust fund baby who has a fake email job at a non-profit can get the EITC. The blue collar worker might not because they didn't do the forms right. Democrats, of course, want to maximize interaction with the system. Everyone gets a handout! But you need to work through the system to get it.
Simply not being taxed works better for real people.
You think blue collar workers don't know how to get the EITC, but your outgroup does? Are there no tax preparation services where you live?
I am a high income white collar worker. I hire an accountant.
But yes, I believe that blue collar workers are often bad at doing taxes and miss out on significant advantages.
nationally about 80% of people eligible for the EITC receive it.
https://www.eitc.irs.gov/eitc-central/participation-rate-by-state/eitc-participation-rate-by-states
I rest my case. Those are really bad numbers.
80% success rate is pretty good. It's pretty obviously not limited to trust fund babies.
The point was that EITC is not limited to hardworking proles but is available to everyone, including people with fake email jobs. The people with fake email jobs will be exceptionally good at claiming the credit. This is what they are built for. That is what they do.
The dude fixing your sink... not so much.
In any case, we're deep in the weeds now. I don't think Trump's proposal is a good one. I never claimed it was.
But blue collar people are getting the shaft and have been for a long time. We need fewer forms. We need fewer rewards for people who fill out forms. We need ways to reward people that don't involve a bureaucrat processing a form, then taking from Peter to pay Paul.
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