Critics Tag Omnibus Retirement 'Reform' As Gift To The Rich

Progressives and economic analysts have slammed retirement savings-related tax changes embedded in Congress' end-of-year $1.7 trillion spending package, saying the pending reforms taken directly from the SECURE 2.0 Act as a "giveaway to the rich," Kenny Stancil reported for Common Dreams.

Photo Insert: According to Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy tax fairness champions, the must-pass omnibus bill includes "some minor provisions to help low-income earners save for retirement, but the vast majority are designed to allow high earners to avoid paying more taxes."

"This bill does not make it easier for workers to save for retirement, it just makes it easier for high-income earners to shelter more of their earnings from taxes," they said.

According to Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy tax fairness champions, the must-pass omnibus bill includes "some minor provisions to help low-income earners save for retirement, but the vast majority are designed to allow high earners to avoid paying more taxes."

Morris Pearl, the group's chair and a former managing director at BlackRock, said: "I'm tired of tax cuts for the rich being sold as help for the poor. The retirement changes in the omnibus package overwhelmingly benefit wealthy people like me while doing almost nothing for the people who truly struggle to save for retirement. This bill does not make it easier for workers to save for retirement, it just makes it easier for high-income earners to shelter more of their earnings from taxes."

"This law will make my heirs hundreds of thousands of dollars wealthier," said Pearl. "It will do virtually nothing for the worker who toasted my bagel this morning. This may be good for the children of some rich people, but in the long run, the increased inequality it creates is bad for everyone, including my own family."

He added: "This legislation is not what America needs to help workers save for retirement," he added.

"Congress should scrap SECURE 2.0 and start from scratch with something that would help all Americans, not just the rich, save for a comfortable, well-deserved retirement. A multi-billion dollar tax cut for the rich should not be the last act of a Democratic Congress."

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