When American voters gave Republicans complete control of Washington in 2016, they knew they’d be getting some innovative, outside-the-box thinking on policy, particularly economic policy. I’m kidding — what they actually knew, or ought to have known, was that they’d be getting the same thing Republicans always advocate: tax cuts for the wealthy and slashing environmental and worker protections.
So it has come to pass. Having achieved those goals, particularly a $1.5 trillion tax cut that has predictably led to an unprecedented round of stock buybacks (and not investment and raises for workers), Republicans retreated to their policy war room, thought and debated and deliberated and analyzed, and came up with a bold new proposal for where to go next.
You’ll never guess what it is:
House Republicans bracing for November’s midterm elections unveiled a second round of tax cuts on Monday that could add more than $2 trillion to the federal deficit over a decade, aiming to cement the steep cuts they passed last fall despite criticisms of fiscal profligacy and tailoring their policies to help the rich.
The GOP’s “tax reform 2.0″ aims to make permanent the tax cuts for individuals that President Trump signed into law in December 2017, including the law’s temporary reductions in individual filers’ rates, a doubling of the Child Tax Credit, and cuts to the estate tax paid by a small fraction of the wealthiest families.
Critics have said the proposed changes would primarily benefit the wealthiest taxpayers, while Republicans have argued their tax cuts help fuel the American economy by putting more money in consumers’ hands.
“Critics have said” that the GOP plan would benefit wealthy people, in the same way critics have said that 2+2=4 and dropping a bowling ball on your foot could produce a sensation of pain.
Why would Republican do this? They aren’t going to vote on it before the November elections, and if those elections turn out the way most everyone expects, it’ll be moot once Democrats take over the House. So there are a number of reasons they might be offering this plan now. One is to lay down a marker so that if they do hold Congress, they can return to it next year. Another is that despite what the polls show about the tax cut they already passed, they believe in the power of tax cuts to win public support sooner or later.
But the most important reason is this: It’s what they really want.