NAUGHTY
Democrat congressman John Yarmuth, incoming House Budget Committee Chairman: for fantasizing about hiking the corporate rate from 21% up to 27%
NICE
87 Senators: for voting in favor of the First Step Act, a historic piece of legislation that would provide recidivism reduction programs for non-violent and low-risk offenders and create modest sentencing reforms.
NAUGHTY
Rep. Danny Davis: for introducing a gun tax that roughly doubles the federal tax on firearms and nearly quintuples the federal tax on ammunition, and for acknowledging he would like to make guns cost prohibitive and “outlaw them altogether.”
NICE
Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon and the Program Review and Investigations Committee: for working to expose the truth behind the shady KentuckyWired contract which wasted taxpayer dollars. KentuckyWired is quickly becoming the most expensive infrastructure project in state history and when all is said and done, will not bring internet to a single Kentuckian who does not already have access to fast internet speeds.
NAUGHTY
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards: for calling three special sessions this year until a roughly $450 million sales tax increase was imposed on Louisianans, on top of the $200-$300 million tax increase they will be facing from his decision to keep the new revenue the state will be collecting as an unintended consequence of federal tax reform.
NICE
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds: for returning the excess revenue Iowa would have otherwise collected from federal tax reform to Iowa taxpayers in the form of the largest tax cut in state history.
NAUGHTY
NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo: for his former top-aide and “brother” being sentenced to prison for corruption; pushing through an absurd “opioid stewardship fee” which could make the crisis worse; and for extorting $1.5 billion from the Catholic Church on the sale of Fidelis, a non-profit health insurer. He’s likely to become the highest paid governor in the country.
NICE
Reggie Bush: for asking, “This might be a dumb question so I’m apologizing ahead of time but who audits the IRS? How do we know exactly where our tax dollars go and that they are being used the right way?”
NAUGHTY
Andrew Gillum: for proposing a 40% increase in Florida’s corporate income tax rate.
NICE
Senator-elect Rick Scott: for enacting $10 billion in tax cuts, reducing more than 5,200 burdensome regulations, and creating 1.5 million new jobs during his time as the 45th governor of Florida.
NAUGHTY
Creepy left-wing protestors: for harassing Ted Cruz and his wife at a restaurant
NICE
Senator Ted Cruz: for his unwavering support of tax cuts and for introducing the Student Opportunity Amendment to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which expanded 529 savings plans to include k-12 tuition costs.
(also nice: Senator Cruz’s new beard)
NAUGHTY
Creepy left-wing protesters: for harassing Ajit Pai at his home, peeking into his windows, and targeting his children.
NICE
Ajit Pai: for keeping the internet free and open, slashing regulations, and making sure the U.S. is #5Gready.
NAUGHTY
Spartacus
NICE
Lindsey Graham 2.0
also nice: Benny Johnson for taking this photo
NAUGHTY
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper: for urging voters to reject a strengthening of the state income tax cap, and for urging North Carolina lawmakers to block the personal and corporate income tax cuts scheduled to take effect on January 1.
NICE
North Carolina Senate President Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore, and their colleagues in the legislature: for enacting tax reform three years ago that will, thanks to revenue triggers, have the state’s personal and corporate income tax rates dropping again on January 1, 2019. The personal income tax rate will drop from 5.499 to 5.25% and the corporate rate will drop from 3.0%, already the nation’s lowest corporate tax rate, to 2.5%
NAUGHTY
Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: for many, many, things
NICE
Cardi B: for asking, “So you know the government is taking 40 percent of my taxes and Uncle Sam, I want to f******g know what you’re doing with my f******g tax money!”
NAUGHTY
Congressman Carlos Curbelo: For introducing a carbon tax while sitting in a comfortable armchair on a stage in DC, promising to “retrain” anyone who loses their job due to the tax. The left-of-center Niskanen Center participated in the event. Curbelo went on to lose the November election, the latest in a long line of carbon-tax-induced losses around the world.
NICE
Washington State Voters: for firmly rejecting a carbon tax at the ballot box, for the second time in a row.
This list is being continuously updated through Christmas Eve. Have a recomendation? Send it to [email protected] with the subject line NaughtyNice2018.