Afternoon Round Up: "Who loses?" Edition
A look at the coverage of Republicans’ roll out of their partisan tax reform framework exposes it for the charade it is: it’s not a serious effort to reform our tax code. Not only are Republicans proposing to give massive tax cuts to the wealthy while exploding the deficit, but what they put forward is short on any detail and leaves many key questions – like who will pay for those tax cuts for the wealthy? – unanswered:
Politico:Trump, GOP tax plan omits details on who pays
“President Donald Trump is heading to Indiana Wednesday to sell a tax-reform plan that glosses over one key question: Who loses?”
“The long-awaited proposal released Wednesday morning by the so-called Big Six is heavy on the GOP's tax cut desires and light when it comes to explaining whose taxes will have to go up to help control costs.”
“The cost of all that would run in the trillions…. But Republican leaders don’t plan to simply cut taxes and leave it at that. They want to at least partially defray the cost with offsetting tax increases. But their plans for doing that, for the most part, are still a secret.”
“It’s not that Republicans don’t necessarily know who they want to foot the bill for their plans. The game plan is to essentially launch a sneak attack on cherished tax breaks, in order to give opponents as little opportunity as possible to mount a counteroffensive.”
Washington Post:GOP proposes deep tax cuts, provides few details on how to pay for them
“But the document, titled ‘Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code,’ leaves many key questions unanswered. In it, the White House and Republican congressional leaders do not identify the numerous tax breaks they say will be removed to offset some of the trillions of dollars in revenue lost by cutting tax rates.”
“The White House and GOP leaders negotiated for months and have agreed in large part only on the taxes they want to cut.”
“Many of the tax changes would benefit upper-income Americans. The Republicans propose eliminating the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax.”
New York Times: Trump Proposes the Most Sweeping Tax Overhaul in Decades
“But the president offered few details about how working people might benefit from a plan that has explicit and substantial rewards for wealthy people and corporations, including the elimination of taxes on large inheritances and deep reductions in the rates paid by businesses large and small.”
“After months of secret talks, the proposal produced by the so-called Big Six working group provides as many questions as it does answers. Without those details, it is difficult to say whether middle-income families will see the most benefit from the tax overhaul or if it will favor the richest Americans.”
Reuters: Trump's tax plan to propose deep US rate cuts, lacks revenue details
“Republicans will say that the tax cuts, widely leaked to the media by a variety of sources in recent days, would be offset by new revenues raised from eliminating tax loopholes, although few if any of those are expected to be named in the plan.”
“The plan will be the latest in a series of Republican documents outlining tax policy goals, but failing to tackle the tough questions that have defied past administrations' efforts to fix the tax code.”
“Analysts have warned that huge tax cuts would balloon the federal deficit and debt if the economic growth projected by Republicans fails to materialize amid rising interest rates.”
“The plan to be unveiled was developed by a small team of senior Republicans behind closed doors with no input from Democrats.”