GOP Finally Unveils Their Agenda: Raise Taxes on Seniors & Hard-Working Americans

From the Speaker's Press Office:

To those who've been waiting for Republicans to unveil an agenda, wait no more: in a splashy eleven-point plan unveiled by a top Senate Republican leader, the GOP declared its explicit intent to raise taxes on "over half of Americans" – doubling down on the long-standing GOP ambition of making seniors and families already struggling to make ends meet pay higher taxes.

As the Washington Post reports:

The language of the plan itself effectively acknowledges it's advocating for an income tax increase on "over half of Americans" — a group of people that is overwhelmingly lower-income. And in fact, the number of Americans to whom this would apply has climbed during the pandemic.

…

Scott's document doesn't discuss the issue in as ham-handed a way as Romney did in that infamous video — though suggesting those who don't pay income taxes don't have "skin in the game" is certainly dicey. But it does advocate for raising taxes on, in the Tax Foundation's estimate, as many as 75 million people who paid no such taxes after deductions and credits in 2020…

Seniors with fixed incomes and hard-working families are already fighting rising prices from inflation. But while Democrats are moving legislation to lower everyday prices and cut taxes for middle class families — paid for by making big corporations and the wealthiest pay their fair share — the GOP tells seniors and working families they need to cough up more taxes while rich corporations skate free.

You can read more key points from the Washington Post's analysis of the GOP plan here:

Washington Post: Rick Scott thrusts the GOP back into Romney-'47 percent' territory

• And while many have focused on what the agenda says about culture-war issues like transgender rights, one of the most striking and evocative parts is what it says about taxes. The 11-point plan calls for new taxes on tens of millions of Americans, by rekindling the same issue the led Mitt Romney to stumble into his "47 percent" gaffe.
• "All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount," the plan says. "Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax."
• The language of the plan itself effectively acknowledges it's advocating for an income tax increase on "over half of Americans" — a group of people that is overwhelmingly lower-income. And in fact, the number of Americans to whom this would apply has climbed during the pandemic.
• Scott's document doesn't discuss the issue in as ham-handed a way as Romney did in that infamous video — though suggesting those who don't pay income taxes don't have "skin in the game" is certainly dicey. But it does advocate for raising taxes on, in the Tax Foundation's estimate, as many as 75 million people who paid no such taxes after deductions and credits in 2020. If you include the 32 million who didn't file returns, such as retirees, the number climbs well over 100 million Americans. (Scott's plan isn't explicit on whether his idea would include such people, but it does say "all Americans.")
• The GOP has for years defined virtually any new tax as a tax increase, and this meets that definition.