The 2018 Democrats, top political analysts inform us, will use the soon-to-be passed tax reform as a way to argue that the GOP is the party of the plutocracy. Which is just another way of saying that Democrats are going to use the same argument they’ve been using for the past three decades with varying degrees of success. I’m not sure this development should rattle any supporter of rate reductions. Especially if they consider most Americans don’t even know they’re getting a cut.
A number of liberals have claimed that the passage of “unpopular” tax reform (judging from coverage it seems that the word “unpopular” must be affixed to any mention of tax reform) is that it is historically analogous to the passage of Obamacare, which triggered the loss of hundreds of Democrat seats and perhaps control of the presidency.
This wishful thinking for a number of reasons.
Yes, the tax bill is unpopular. Then again, I’m not sure you’ve noticed, everything Washington tries to do is unpopular. Nothing polls well. Not the president. Not congress. Not Democrats. Not legislation. Not even erstwhile popular-vote winning candidates. Certainly a bill being bombarded with hysterical end-of-world claims rarely debunked by the political media is not going to be popular. Republicans won’t pass anything if they wait around for it to be popular. But, funnily enough, they can be somewhat content knowing that voters will probably like it once they find out what’s in it.
According to a WSJ poll, 17% of Americans think they will pay less in taxes.
According to the Tax Policy Center, 80.4% of Americans will pay less taxes. pic.twitter.com/YzXRPa0dD5
— modest proposal (@modestproposal1) December 19, 2017
Why do so many Americans believe that middle class is getting a tax hike? Because those they trust are constantly lying to them. Both in framing and content, the coverage of the tax cuts has been impressively dishonest. “One-Third of Middle Class Families Could End Up Paying More Under the GOP Tax Plan” writes CNN (They won’t). The Associated Press says, “BREAKING: House passes first rewrite of nation’s tax laws in three decades, providing steep tax cuts for businesses, the wealthy.” And so on.
There will always be ideological arguments regarding the efficacy of tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, but at some point people are going to find out that they’ve gotten one, too. Non-partisan liberals at the Tax Policy Center concede that 80 percent of Americans would see a tax cut in 2018 and that the average cut would be $2,140 – which might be something to scoff at in DC but I imagine a bunch of voters surprised by these savings will be less cynical. Only 4.8 percent of Americans will see a tax increase.
Like Obamacare, people don’t know what’s in the bill. But unlike Obamacare, the repeal of the individual mandate merely gives millions a choice. The passage of Obamacare upended lives. ACA would become synonymous with “health care insurance,” and everything that went wrong with that insurance would be attributed to the bill by voters. And since Democrats offered a litany of fantastical promises about the future of health care, the disapproval was well deserved. Millions began losing their insurance plans as soon as Obamacare was implemented, despite assurances from the president and pliant Democrats that no such thing would happen. For many, premiums in the individual markets doubled over four years of Obamacare. These are tangible, real-life consequences that voters dealt with.
Before one believes what the Democrats and media (redundancy alert) say about the tax cuts, please recall how they pushed Obamacare, the Obama economy, Obama foreign policy, Hillary and, now, the Obama legacy.
These people cannot be trusted. Whatever they say, assume it is a lie until you can verify it.
That’s kind of a sophomoric grasp ain’t it Curt, even for The Federalist?
It starts by selling a nonsense people just don’t trust the govmint anyway and therefore the skepticism of this scam is only natural and expected. You know, they’ll come around, or, or, something.
Let’s add on a touch of that “the sky is falling” hysteria that you just always see in new legislation that just never pans out. Why does killing grandma come to my mind? Oh wait, people really did come to like that law didn’t they?
But to cut through all the nonsensical spewage so expected from trump suckers, trump voters ultimately felt they just weren’t getting their fair share of their earned pie, that they were getting passed by, were’t keeping up, being taken advantaged of.
So when you look at this “popularity” argument, it’s going to boil down to what’s in it for them. Now, trump sold this to them as a help to middle class workers and not a benefit to the wealthy, even stating it hurt people like him. And then just Friday, he told his wealthy contributors at a Mar-a-Lago $200,000 a plate dinner that “you just got a lot richer”. And this meager tax break for some workers expires in a few years whereas his $200,000 a plate “just got a lot richer” friends keep theirs forever.
It’s gonna take a bit more than lifting some “feel good” spin from a partisan hack rag to survive 2018.
@Ajay42302: How did you get into Mar-a-Lago?
Oh by the way, enjoy.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-22/stalled-vegas-resort-now-a-go-as-developer-feels-tax-law-fervor?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
Merry Christmas to all.
As we already know the Demac-Rats want higher taxes and more taxes from everything from Firearms to Cheese Burgers to pay for their little pet projects
Who knew. Maybe he got a clue for Christmas too.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-19/trump-tax-plan-passing-in-2017-has-no-shot-obama-official-says
Old Bernie actually stepped in it.
@Mully:
Are you arguing that if one wasn’t there, it isn’t true?
@Ajay42302: @Ajay42302: I see you didn’t get a clue for Christmas.
Birdie Sanders can not fly all he has a a a left wing
@Mully: He got one, but he doesn’t know how to work it and the instructions got thrown away with the wrapping paper.
I don’t care if Dems only fool themselves about these tax reforms, but they also try to fool everyone else.
Like a CBS “report” about how 3 families will be affected by these reforms:
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/12/breaking-tax-bill-cut-taxes.php
But you have to listen closely to the CBS report as it admits all three save lots of money.
File under: “You cut taxes when we were already running in the red. What did you think would happen? ”
Federal deficit jumps 20 percent after tax cuts, spending bill
That hypothetical point can never be reached, because at this rate the dollar will become utterly worthless long before we get there.
@Greg: Hate the tax cuts take the extra you see and donate it back to the federal reserve. Start a liberal movement for every democrat to do this give Pelosi back her crumbs.
I’m hanging on to the extra I see, figuring I’ll owe a good part of it back at the end of the year. I suspect they reduced my withholding rate more than they have actually reduced my taxes.
@Greg:
Of course you are, Greggie.
But then, when I suggested years ago that since you supported higher taxes, you contribute more to the U.S. Treasury than you owed in taxes, you were against that idea.
@Greg:
Hey, this ain’t Obamacare we’re talking about. This is what it is.
@retire05: Greg says crumbs for me but none for thee.
But by his logic there was no tax cut and the government is getting all the crumbs they need.