Why Don’t the American People See the #GOPTaxScam as a Win? Because it Overwhelmingly Benefits the Wealthy and Leaves the Middle Class Behind

Tax Policy Center: “In the Middle Income Quintile … 70 Percent Would Face A Tax Increase” By 2027 

AP: Congress’ Official Tax Analyst Sees 2027 Tax Boosts For Many.

 Monmouth: “Americans Disapprove of the Tax Reform Plan Currently Making its Way Through Congress by a Nearly 2-to-1 Margin.”

THE GOP TAX SCAM RAISES TAXES ON MILLIONS OF AMERICANS – INCLUDING 70% OF MIDDLE INCOME AMERICANS BY 2027

Tax Policy Center: By 2027, “In The Middle Income Quintile, 24 Percent Would Receive A Tax Cut And 70 Percent Would Face A Tax Increase.” “Taxpayers in the top 1 percent of the income distribution would receive an average tax cut of 0.9 percent of after-tax income, accounting for 83 percent of the total benefit for that year. … In 2027, 25 percent of taxpayers would experience a tax cut from the included provisions, averaging about $1,500, and 53 percent would face an average tax increase of $180 (table 6). In the bottom income quintile, 11 percent would receive a tax cut and 33 percent would face a tax increase. In the middle income quintile, 24 percent would receive a tax cut and 70 percent would face a tax increase. In the top 1 percent of the income distribution, 76 percent would receive a tax cut and 24 percent would face a tax increase.” [Tax Policy Center, 12/18/17]

AP: Congress’ Official Tax Analyst Sees 2027 Tax Boosts For Many. “The Republican tax bill would mean average initial tax cuts for Americans across all income lines, but by 2027, it would boost average levies for everyone earning up to $75,000, which includes most taxpayers, Congress’ nonpartisan tax analyst estimated Monday. … In 2027, a year after most individual tax provisions expire, people making up to $75,000 would be paying more on average than under current law. The committee says around 118 million of the 177 million tax returns are from households making up to $75,000.” [AP, 12/18/17]

THE GOP TAX SCAM COULD COST MORE THAN $2 TRILLION TO FUND TAX CUTS FOR THE RICHEST FEW

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: Final Tax Bill Could End Up Costing $2.2 Trillion.  “The final conference committee agreement of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) would cost $1.46 trillion under conventional scoring and over $1 trillion on a dynamic basis over ten years, leading debt to rise to between 95 percent and 98 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2027 (compared to 91 percent under current law). However, the bill also includes a number of expirations and long-delayed tax hikes meant to reduce the official cost of the bill. These expirations and delays hide $570 billion to $725 billion of potential further costs, which could ultimately increase the cost of the bill to $2.0 trillion to $2.2 trillion (before interest) on a conventional basis or roughly $1.5 trillion to $1.7 trillion on a dynamic basis over a decade. As a result, debt would rise to between 98 percent and 100 percent of GDP by 2027.” [CRFB, 12/18/17]

Center for Budget and Policy Priorities: Tax Bill’s Cost Could Hit $2.2 Trillion Over Next Decade. “The Republican tax bill is loaded with expiring provisions and delayed tax increases that help it comply with budget rules but hide its likely real cost; if policymakers down the road don’t let these provisions take effect, as leading Republicans say they prefer, the bill’s cost would be about $2.2 trillion over the first decade (2018 to 2027) — or almost 50 percent more than the Joint Committee on Taxation’s (JCT) official cost estimate of $1.5 trillion.” [CBPP, 12/18/17]

Penn Wharton Budget Model: “This brief reports Penn Wharton Budget Model’s (PWBM) static and dynamic analysis of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), reported by the conference committee on December 15, 2017. The TCJA increases debt by between $1.9 trillion to $2.2 trillion over the next decade.” [Penn Wharton, 11/18/17]

NO WONDER THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OVERWHELMINGLY OPPOSE THE REPUBLICAN TAX SCAM

CNN Poll:  55% Oppose the Republican Tax Bill.  “Opposition to the bill has grown 10 points since early November, and 55% now oppose it. Just 33% say they favor the GOP's proposals to reform the nation's tax code. Two-thirds see the bill as doing more to benefit the wealthy than the middle class (66%, vs. 27% who say it'll do more to benefit the middle class) and almost four in 10 (37%) say that if the bill becomes law, their own family will be worse off. That's grown five points since early November. Just 21% say they'll be better off if the bill becomes law.” [CNN, 12/19/17]

New York Times Poll/SurveyMonkey Poll: 58% of Americans Disapprove of the Republican Tax Bill. “Republican congressional leaders say their tax overhaul would raise wages, accelerate economic growth and give middle-class families a badly needed tax cut. They are having a hard time convincing Americans of those claims… According to the survey of 5,100 adults, conducted this week for The New York Times by the online polling firm SurveyMonkey, only a third of Americans think their taxes will go down in 2018 if the bill passes next week as widely expected. … The SurveyMonkey poll, taken before the final tax bill was out, found that 58 percent of Americans disapproved of the bill, while only 37 percent supported it. An earlier version of the poll, conducted in November, found 52 percent disapproval.” ” [New York Times, 12/15/17]

Monmouth University Poll: Americans Oppose the #GOPTaxScam by a 2-to-1 margin. “Americans disapprove of the tax reform plan currently making its way through Congress by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Half the public believe their own taxes would go up under this plan and a plurality would like to see Congress scrap the current effort and start fresh in 2018. Results of the Monmouth University Poll  also indicate there are potential hurdles for selling this proposal to the American public since most feel the middle class has not been seeing any benefits from Pres. Donald Trump's policies so far. … The current proposal is significantly less popular than the landmark 1986 tax reform law. A Gallup poll taken in September 1986 when that bill was in the final stages of passage found that 39% of the public approved of the bill compared to 33% who disapproved. ‘One of the reasons the current plan may be less popular than the Reagan-era package is that the 1986 bill was seen as a good faith bipartisan effort rather than a purely partisan proposal,’ said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. … Half of the public (50%) predict that the federal taxes they pay will go up with the plan now under consideration by Congress. Just 14% say their taxes will go down.” [Monmouth University, 12/18/17]