Opinion: Republicans gave us the Iraq war, Gitmo and now a terrible tax bill. Americans need to stop electing them.

To the editor: Here’s a life lesson for those who may need it and are open to it: If something isn’t working for you, do not double down and get more of it. This works on a larger scale too.

For instance, if a Republican congressional majority decides a war in Iraq is a good thing, is down with keeping detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and helps create a financial crisis and a great recession, maybe you want to think twice about inviting that into your lives again. But if you do, maybe you should take heed when those Republican lawmakers refuse to do anything to help a Democratic president reform healthcare and do other things to further the well-being of our country.

So, here we are — the new tax bill will be enacted all too soon, and life will not be good for those “poorly educated” and middle-class people whom President Trump claims to love so well. I urge people to look closely to what is not working in their lives and avoid those things in the future — at least for your children’s sake.

Lorraine Feuerstein, Moorpark

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To the editor: The article “House and Senate pass GOP tax plan as Congress prepares to deliver Trump’s top legislative priority” reports that the critics of the GOP tax plan fault it because the benefits of the tax overhaul will largely flow to the wealthy. Conversely, the article quotes the critics who fault it because the wealthy — those who earn more money and own more expensive homes — will lose their benefits of deducting state and local income and property taxes.

Which way do the critics want it?

William Vietinghoff, Thousand Oaks

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To the editor: I am a tax attorney who works with small businesses, and the complaint I hear most is not about an inability to repatriate offshore earnings or that their income is being taxed at 35%. These problems do not generally exist for small businesses and are the domain of much larger and more politically connected “C” corporations.

The complaint I hear most often is that the tax system is too complicated and requires too much time and energy to maintain compliance. I agree. Unfortunately, this tax reform bill does nothing to address the primary concerns of small-business owners.

By painting this legislation as “tax reform” rather than a simple tax cut, Congress has burned the political capital that will be required to make the changes that small-business owners truly need.

I can accept that the savings for most Americans are temporary and speculative, and that large corporations are not likely to use their windfalls to hire employees. What I cannot accept is that the party of Ronald Reagan wasted political capital on a tax reform bill that left so much of the red tape in place.

Adam Brewer, San Diego

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To the editor: It’s done. A dishonest, cruel piece of legislation has been signed into law, clearly a mistake in the minds of our citizens.

So what drove it? Pundits talk about many factors, but there’s only one: our campaign finance system.

Members of Congress got a clear message from big donors: “Vote against this bill and we’ll never support you again.” Message received. Their jobs were at stake.

When will we re-engineer our campaign finance system?

Donald Funk, Redondo Beach

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To the editor: Now is the perfect time for Trump to release his income tax returns so we can debunk any misleading commentary by the fake news media questioning his claim that he will not profit under the new system.

Robert Levine, Carlsbad

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