Rim Country Gazette: Republicans worry their tax giveaway to the rich will be viewed as a tax giveaway to the rich

Thursday, November 2, 2017

Republicans worry their tax giveaway to the rich will be viewed as a tax giveaway to the rich

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 05: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) (2nd L) and fellow Republican senators (L-R) Sen. John Barrasso (R-UT) and Sen. John Thune (R-SD) talk to reporters following their weekly policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol April 5, 2016 in Washington, DC. McConnell insisted that support among Senate Republicans has not waned for his refusal to hold confirmation hearings or a vote on President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This is rich: Republicans are catching on to the fact that raising the tax rate on the lowest income earners doesn't look good when you're lowering the tax rate on the highest incoming earners. The Hill writes:

Under the framework Republicans are using, the seven tax brackets now in the tax code — including the lowest 10 percent bracket and the highest 39.6 percent bracket — would be collapsed into three, taxing people at 12 percent, 25 percent and 35 percent, depending on their income levels. [...]
But Republican senators fear it will be difficult to explain to voters why they’re raising the tax rate for low- and middle-income Americans while cutting the tax rate for the wealthiest.

Um, yes—yes, it will.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll released last week found that less than a third of Americans support Trump’s tax plan.

Whatever Republicans release, it will be a disaster to sell. They're talking about bad optics but don't seem to be making the logical leap to bad substance.

And they still have a math problem they're not even close to fixing.

Good luck.