The United States has a problem with income inequality.
美国正面临着收入不平等的问题
Things are much worse today in terms of inequality than they were 30 years ago.
如今的不平等问题比30年前更加严重了
The biggest threat to us as a nation is income inequality.
威胁我们国家统一最大的问题就是收入不平等
People have different ideas about why this is happening.
为什么会出现这种情况，大家是众说纷纭
CEO pay climbs every single year without exception.
企业总裁们上交的税额逐年增长，而且年年如此
The United States has lost 5 million manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
自2000年以来，美国制造业已经失去了500万工作岗位
Big shifts that's happened in the economy
美国经济发生了多次大变革
that is lead in part to a decline in union membership.
导致工会会员都越来越少了
But one if the biggest drivers of inequality is hiding here,
但造成这种不平等最大的原因就藏在
in these 2,000 pages. It's the US tax code.
这2000页的文件，也就是美国的税法里
President Trump and Republicans in Congress have a plan to alter that code.
特朗普总统和国会里的共和党人士计划修改这一法律
and if they get their way, it'll get even better for the richest Americans.
如果他们修改成功，那么受益的将是位于美国财富金字塔顶端的人
First, let's look at a few things that Trump and the Republicans
首先，我们来看一下税法中，特朗普和共和党人
don't want to change about the tax code:
不想修改的部分：
the charitable deduction and the mortgage interest deduction.
公益性捐赠税收优惠法规以及抵押税收优惠法规
Here's how they favor the rich:
这些法规对有钱人有利的原因如下：
Let's say Dan makes $100 donation to his church.
我们假设丹给他的教堂捐了100美元
He makes about $30,000 a year.
他的年收入约3万美元
Roughly, the median income for individuals in the US.
这差不多是美国个人收入的中位数
Which puts him in the 15% tax bracket.
这一收入水平的所得税等级为15%
It means he would save at most $15 on his taxes.
这也就意味着他最多能省下15美元的税金
But let's say Dan's boss Steve makes the same donation to his church.
但是，假如丹的老板史蒂夫给他的教堂捐了同样多钱
Steve makes $500,000 a year which puts him in the top tax bracket.
史蒂夫年收入是50万美元，他需要缴纳最高比例的税额
And the same $100 donation could save Steve $39.60 on his taxes.
那么，他捐的100美元就能为他省下39.6美元的税金
Dan and Steve give the same amount to their church
丹和史蒂夫给他们的教堂捐了同样多钱
but Steve saves more than twice as much.
但史蒂夫省下的钱高出丹的两倍
The higher your tax rate, the more the charitable deduction helps you.
你上税的比例越高，公益性捐款税收福利就对你越有利
Small examples like this add up.
类似的例子还有很多
People making $100,000 or more
年收入在10万美元以上的人群
account for about 57% of all the charitable contributions in the US,
承担了美国慈善捐款总额的57%以上
but they get 76% of the tax benefits.
但他们得到了76%的税收福利
This deduction is also really expensive.
这一税收福利也耗费了联邦政府不少的资金
The US spends $70,000,000,000 a year on it.
美国政府每年在税收福利上投入的钱高达700亿美元
More than eight times what it spends on Head Start,
这一投入是启蒙教育
the federally funded preschool program
也就是联邦为学前教育投入的资金的八倍以上
and more than twice what it spends on Pell Grants
同时也是佩尔助学金，
for low-income students to go to college.
给经济困难的大学生发放的补助，方面的投入的两倍以上

Plus there's all kinds of ways to bend the rules.
除此之外，还有很多放宽的政策
Billionaire Mitchell Rales gets tax break for
富豪米切尔·雷尔斯得到了收税福利，不过是把他收藏的艺术品捐给
donating his collection of modern art to a museum that he built right next door to his house.
他在他家门口修建的博物馆，
A museum that's only open for private tours.
而这一博物馆仅对私人定制参观开放
But the worst thing about about the charitable deduction?
但公益性捐赠税收优惠最大的问题是，
There's not great evidence that it works.
并没有明显的证据显示这一法规有多大作用
Turns out you don't need a tax break to encourage people to be generous to others.
其实，鼓励大家慷慨解囊并不需要什么税收福利
In the 1980's the top tax rate for the richest people was 70%
在二十世纪80年代，最富有的人群纳税的最高比例为70%
and through a series of reforms it dropped to 28%
通过一系列的改革，这一比例下降到了28%
and the Council on Foundations, it's kind of a trade group for charities,
美国基金会委员会，相当于慈善事业的工会组织
said, 'Oh my God, you do that we're going to lose all our contributions.'
声称，“天啦，要这样，以后我们就指望不上收到什么捐款了”
Guess what? No difference.
你猜后来怎么样？并没有什么变化
People gave just as much with a much lower tax rate.
税收比例降低以后，人们捐的钱并没有增多
Austria, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and New Zealand
奥地利、芬兰、爱尔兰、意大利、瑞典、瑞士以及新西兰
have all gotten rid of their deductions for charitable contributions
都取消了公益性捐赠税收优惠制度
and that hasn't had an impact on donation rates.
也并没有对捐款数额造成什么影响
One easy way to make things more fair?
有没有什么简单的办法能够让收入变得公平一点呢？
Replace the tax deduction with a tax credit.
用税收抵免政策取代税收优惠政策
If Dan and Steve both give $100 to their church, give them each a $15 tax credit.
如果丹和史蒂夫都给他们的教堂捐了100美元，那就都给他们减免15美元的税金
That's how they do it in Canada.
加拿大就是这么做的
A tax credit reduces the amount you owe,
税收减免直接从你手里抽钱
so the same donation gets the same benefit no matter how rich you are.
如此一来，不管你多有钱，捐多少钱就相应地减免多少税
There's another tax deduction that's a boon for the wealthy.
还有一个税收优惠政策也在为富人谋利
The mortgage interest deduction costs about $100,000,000,000 a year to the Treasury.
抵押利率优惠政策每年要耗费财政部1000亿美元的资金
We could use that money to treat wounded veterans,
我们本可以把这笔钱拿来医治受伤的士兵，
to build hospitals, to build highways, but instead we give it to rich homeowners.
建医院或是修高速，但我们没有，而是把这些钱送进了富人的腰包
Here's how it works:
原理是这样：
Let's say Dan buys a house for $100,000.
假设丹买了一套10万美元的房子
He doesn't pay for that all at once.
他不是一次性付清的
Each month he writes a check to the bank for $1,000.
他要按月给银行还1000美元的贷款
Let's say $800 goes to paying for the house,
假如其中800美元是用来支付购房的钱
and the bank keeps $200. That's interest!
剩下的200美元银行扣下来了，这是利息！
Dan writes twelve of these checks a year,
丹一年要付12次按揭
so he pays $2,400 a year in interest.
那他一年就要支付2400美元的利息
The mortgage interest deduction lets Dan subtract that interest from his taxable income,
抵押利率优惠政策要丹从他的应税收入里拿出这一利息
which could save him as much as $362.
这样一来就给他省了362美元的税金
"Nice", thinks Dan, that is until he hears about Steve.
丹觉得，“不错嘛”，直到他知道了史蒂夫的情况
Steve also buys a house for $100,000.
史蒂夫也买了一套10万美元的房子
He also writes a $1,000 check, each month paying $200 in interest.
他也每个月给银行按揭1000美元，每个月支付200美元的利息
So after a year, Steve can also deduct the $2,400 from his taxable income.
一年下来，史蒂夫也要从他的应税收入里拿出2400美元支付银行的利息
But that same deduction can save Steve more than $960.
但是同一抵押利率优惠政策却能帮史蒂夫省下960多美元
Nearly three times as much as Dan for the exact same mortgage payments.
是将近丹在同一抵押支付上省下来的将近三倍之多
It doesn't stop there.
到这里，事情还没完呢
Steve can buy a second home, deduct the interest, and save even more.
史蒂夫还能再买一套，减去利息，省更多的钱
Or he can get a mortgage for his yacht, count it as a second home, and deduct the interest.
他也可以买下一座游艇，当成他的第二个家，享受抵扣抵押贷款利息的福利
Sorry Dan, your fishing boat doesn't count.
抱歉，丹，你的渔船不能算数
There are deductions everywhere.
税收优惠多的是
The money you lose from gambling? Deduct it.
赌博输了钱？扣掉
Fancy business dinners? Yep.
高档商务晚宴？当然
Money you put in a retirement account? That too.
存入退休账户的钱？也算
You can even deduct the fees you pay an accountant to help you find more deductions.
连你用来赚更多优惠的账户的费用都能扣
And while theoretically Dan could take advantage of these same deductions
尽管从理论上讲，丹也可以从这些扣除中受益
the fact is, people like Steve benefit a whole lot more.
问题是，史蒂夫那类人拿到的好处多得多
People who make about $400,000 a year or more make up about 5% of taxpayers
年收入超过40万美元的人群只占纳税人的5%左右
but they get more than half the benefits from these tax deductions.
但他们从这些税收优惠中获得的利益占了所有税收优惠的一半以上