In “Who’s to blame for America’s national debt?” (The Columbian, May 19), writer Angelo Fichera left out that the Bush tax cuts were not fully implemented until 2010 in the Obama presidency. The Republican Congress extended the Bush tax cuts and eventually make them permanent under the Trump administration. Then we have the Trump tax cuts.
All tax cuts were funded by red ink. The debt is now at 123 percent of gross domestic product. Not since World War II has it been that high.
Who benefited by these red ink tax cuts? From 2000 to 2018 the richest 20 percent got 65 percent of the cuts. The next 20 percent of earners got 16 percent. The middle 20 percent got 9 percent, then 7 percent and the bottom 3 percent.
The red ink tax cuts benefited the rich and contributed nothing to the economy. Obama got us the Affordable Care Act, 15 million people got health care. What Republican can say their tax cuts did that?
