On Nov. 16, Congressman Fred Upton once again betrayed the residents of southwest Michigan by voting in favor of the House Republican “tax cuts for the rich” bill.

The legislation that Upton voted for would increase the federal deficit by 1.5 trillion dollars.

What hypocrisy. Congressional Republicans loudly condemn deficits when they are in the minority.

When they become the majority party, however, they are more than willing to vote for bills that greatly increase deficits.

Upton and his fellow Republicans make the claim that by cutting taxes for the rich, the middle class will benefit. This is the so-called “trickle down” theory, which has repeatedly been debunked.

The only thing that happens when the rich receive tax cuts is that they get richer.

One element of the House Republican bill is the elimination of the estate tax, which affects only wealthy estates ($5.49 million and above for individuals, $10.8 million and above for couples). Donald Trump claims that eliminating the estate tax “will protect millions of small businesses and the American farmer”.

Politifact, the Pulitzer-prize winning fact checker, examined Trump’s claim, and rated it a “pants on fire” lie. The benefits of estate tax repeal would flow to the heirs of millionaires and billionaires, people like Donald Trump and his cabinet.

Upton claims that the Republicans’ enormous tax cut for corporations, from 35 percent to 20 percent, will “create jobs and boost our southwest Michigan economy.”

Many studies have demonstrated that this statement is false. Corporate tax cuts mainly benefit shareholders and wealthy executives, not workers.

The Republican “tax cut for the rich bill” would not benefit the middle class, and the deficits created by this bill would hurt middle and lower income individuals and families.

Fred Upton voted for this terrible bill. Please remember this when you cast your vote in 2018.

Larry Feldman

Lakeside