U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly tried to put a positive spin on Trump’s Reconciliation Bill in his op-ed “One Big Beautiful Bill a gamechanger for Western Pa.” (July 5, TribLive). I think Americans know this bill will take revenue from the average American and redistribute it upwards. There is no trickle down with tax cuts to the wealthy.

We learned from President Reagan’s “trickle- down economics” that such policies can exacerbate income inequality rather than promote broad-based prosperity. The Week magazine reports that the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households would receive an average of $12,000 more annually, while the bottom 10% would lose about $1,600 in that same year with this bill. It seems the GOP has no problem giving assistance to the wealthy but begrudges giving any benefits to the average American taxpayer.

Many economists believe that Trump’s tax cuts for the wealthy during his first administration contributed to the downward economic trend prior to the covid epidemic. Now his threats of tariffs and more tax cuts to the wealthy will again have the same negative effect on our economy. There is no beautiful side to this bill for the average American household who will also be saddled with increased tariffs, which are nothing but taxes on American families.

Kelly also suggested that tax cuts could help inflation. However, we know that tax cuts won’t solve the problem of wage stagnation faced by half of American workers.

Only a living wage can help us tackle inflation. Unfortunately, Kelly voted against raising the minimum wage.

Katie Forsythe

North Huntingdon

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