Unpacking Rep. Kevin Kiley’s misleading claims on tax reform bill | Opinion

The Republican tax bill is poised to significantly impact our lives, particularly for senior citizens. Accurate and unbiased communication is urgently needed, but instead of plainspoken information from Rep. Kevin Kiley, my own congressman, we receive a steady stream of unsubstantiated happy talk, which does nothing to address our concerns.

Kiley’s weekly “Representative Reports” are a shameful example of spin doctoring. Each issue contains carefully selected self-serving claims meant to convince us that he is accomplishing great things for the constituents of District 3. Accurate statements about the harmful legislation he has approved are notably absent.

For example, one of Kiley’s most recent newsletters promotes a “Social Security Tax Break,” highlighting the $6,000 deduction per person ($12,000 per couple) provision in the bill.

That sounds great, but there’s no mention that this provision is temporary, ending in 2028. Income caps reduce the amount of the benefit, and the benefit is unavailable to retirees under the age of 65. Furthermore, the revenue reduction directly affects one of Social Security’s funding sources, accelerating the program’s insolvency.

In contrast, the Republican bill is expected to permanently cut taxes for the top 1% of taxpayers by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. Of this amount, $500 billion will go to the top 0.1% of earners, a group of approximately 200,000 households with annual incomes of more than $2 million.

In the same newsletter, Kiley proclaims, there will be “no cuts to Medicaid.” He cites the “non-partisan” Office of Management and Budget as his source for that statement. On its website, the Office of Management and Budget states that it “serves the president of the United States in overseeing the implementation of his vision across the Executive Branch,” so labeling the Office of Management and Budget as non-partisan is deceitful.

The latest analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, which actually is non-partisan, includes a cost estimate showing the reconciliation package would reduce federal Medicaid spending over a decade by an estimated $911 billion. And, because of further reductions to the Affordable Care Act, the analysis states that the package would increase the number of uninsured people to 16 million by 2034.

Those reductions in Medicaid directly affect services that millions of Americans — including seniors — depend upon. Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Office estimates $490 billion in cuts to Medicare will occur as a result of the 2010 Pay-As-You-Go Act. When combined with other cuts, this Republican-backed bill enforces over a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.

These reductions would strip away protections for nursing home residents and severely limit access to health and long-term care for disabled persons of all ages, low-income older adults, their families and caregivers.

It’s time for Kiley to come clean on the actual impact of this legislation he supports. Yes, there are some attractive features of the bill, and there is a segment of the population that will reap enormous benefits, but overall, this Republican bill will inflict harm on millions more than it will help. But, of course, you won’t read any of this in his newsletters.

If you’d like to leave the spin behind and learn the facts, one source is the California Alliance of Retired Americans’ Justice in Aging webinar on August 13th.

Kiley would rather we remain unaware of the bill’s consequences, so he will try to distract us with dishonest assertions, choreographed media appearances and his long-standing crusade against our state and its governor; but we must hold him accountable. His goal is to keep the facts from us, to confuse us with misleading statements and empty promises. Don’t let him spin away the truth.

Barbara Smith is a retired teacher, native Californian and Placer County resident currently serving as the second vice-chair of the Placer County Democratic Central Committee. She is a founding member of the Placer Advocates for Students and Families.