Dems Hit Hardest: Analysis Says Trump Tax Plan Disproportionately Helps The Poor

An analysis from Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation revealed discomfiting news for Democrats who engage in class warfare: the House tax package would give average-income people almost double the percentage decline in their tax bills than those making more than $1 million a year.

The report found a general steady decline in the tax percentage as wages decreased. People making more than $1 million per year would see a drop of 8.6%; a decline of between roughly 11%-13% from those making between $1 million and $60,000, then a surge to 14.5% for those making between $50,000-$60,000; 16.1% for those making between $40,000-$50,000, 17.6% for those making between $30,000-$40,000, and 21.1% for those making between $15,000-$30,000 per year.

“The measure of income used to place tax returns into income categories is adjusted gross income (“AGI”) plus (1) tax-exempt interest, (2) employer contributions for health plans and life insurance, (3) employer share of FICA tax, (4) workers’ compensation, (5) nontaxable Social Security benefits, (6) insurance value of Medicare benefits, (7) alternative minimum tax preference items, (8) individual share of business taxes, and (9)excluded income of U S citizens living abroad,” the analysis noted.

“The analysis does not take account of a likely expansion of a deduction for state and local taxes, which would overwhelmingly benefit upper-income households, or look at the possible effect of spending cuts Republicans are also planning that would primarily hit lower-income people,” POLITICO reported.

On Monday, House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) ripped the House GOP, saying,  “They’re very uncertain of where they’re headed. And they know the political consequences, because I talked to a couple of them already.”

“House Republicans are hoping to get the tax portion of the bill out of committee on Tuesday. Neal plans to make that task as hard as he can,” Semafor reported on Monday.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) resorted to the time-honored Democratic tradition of accusing the GOP of favoring the rich, saying, “My colleagues, let’s be honest about why we are here today. We are here because—according to President Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans in Congress—the wealthiest individuals and the largest corporations in our country are not wealthy enough.”

Despite Democrats’ efforts to stop it, the House Ways and Means Committee, in a straight party-line vote, voted to advance the tax package out of committee on Wednesday morning, which means the package must next go to the House Budget Committee. The package makes the income tax rates from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 permanent while including President Donald Trump’s promises of no tax on tips or overtime, a jump in the child tax credit, and an increase in the endowment tax on some universities.

The House Budget Committee will gather the disparate parts of Trump’s tax bill, then send it to the entire House for a vote. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will have to work assiduously to unify the various factions in the House, given the razor-thin majority the GOP has in the House.