On Tax Day, House GOP Quiet on Their Own Tax Bill

It's been reported this morning that NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers is urging House Republicans to sell the GOP tax scam on Tax Day because polling shows voters aren't hearing anything about the tax bill from their Republican members of Congress.

Well… what is there to talk about?  The fact that the tax scam ultimately raises taxes on 86 million middle class families?  Gives 83 percent of the tax cuts to the wealthiest one percent?  Hands a $1.3 trillion tax rate break to corporate America?  And explodes the deficit by nearly $2 trillion?

With more than half of working Americans (52 percent) seeing no change in their withholding taxes, it's no wonder why House GOP members are quiet on their own tax bill.

CNBC: GOP tax cuts have gotten less popular with voters, new NBC/WSJ poll says

As congressional Republicans fight to preserve their majorities, they may need to find a weapon more powerful than the big December tax cuts.

The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that the tax-cut law, never broadly popular, has sagged in public esteem lately. Just 27 percent of Americans call it a good idea, down from 30 percent in January.

Moreover, a majority gives thumbs-down on the plan when asked to consider its potential effects.

…

Working-class, middle-class and upper-class Americans all hold negative views of the tax-cut law. Women who have graduated from college call the tax cuts a bad idea by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

Washington Post: Trump wants to make Wall Street great again

President Trump is making Wall Street banks great again.

The biggest banks are reporting windfalls from Trump's signature tax cut in their first-quarter earnings … And the slashed corporate rate is only one of the ways the administration's performance is goosing industry profits. The return of stock market volatility, touched off in part by the president's trade war threats, is boosting revenue for trading desks. Even more help is on the way for banks' bottom lines from a slew of deregulatory moves Trump appointees are working on.

Fiscal Times: Trump Touts Tax Cuts, but Can They Save the GOP from a Midterm Meltdown?

The president touting his biggest legislative achievement, mostly sticking to the subject at hand and selling "the biggest tax cut in history, bigger than the Reagan tax cut" (still not true) rather than — or at least in addition to — tweets about the scandals surrounding his administration.

…

But the massive tax cuts might not be the winning issue Trump and Republicans hope they'll be … the tax cuts might not motivate voters enough to stem significant GOP losses … Some recent polls show that the majority of Americans still don't support the tax law.

Think Progress: CBO confirms GOP tax bill will worsen offshore tax dodging

The CBO findings echo analysis from non-partisan think tanks like the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which found that the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would make offshore tax dodging even worse than it was before.  The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities similarly found that the plan is "likely to lead to more outsourcing of U.S. jobs and a larger trade deficit" due to its tax cuts for overseas profits.

…

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was not real tax reform.

Instead of touting false messaging and empty promises to sell their tax scam on hard-working American families, Republicans should join Democrats to work on real, bipartisan tax reform that creates jobs, responsibly reduces the deficit and puts the middle class first.