Broken Promises
It seems every day that President Trump is breaking another promise to middle-class families. The latest offense? President Trump’s support for the #GOPTaxScam that cuts taxes on the wealthiest Americans and raises taxes on 82 million hardworking middle-class households—who President Trump promised “will be forgotten no longer.” From NBC News:
“When President Trump speaks on his tax plan at 3:30 pm ET today in St. Charles, Mo., it will no longer be accurate to describe him as an economic populist who pursues policies to benefit the poor and the middle class at the expense of the wealthiest Americans. The reason: The Senate tax plan he’s selling is the exact opposite of economic populism.”
“During the 2016 presidential campaign — and even in his first year as president — Trump portrayed himself as an economic populist.”
“During the 2016 presidential campaign — and even in his first year as president — Trump portrayed himself as an economic populist.”
- “SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Do you believe in raising taxes on the wealthy? TRUMP: ‘I do, I do, including myself. I do.’” (Today Show town hall, April 21, 2016)
- “‘The thing I'm going to do is make sure the middle class gets good tax breaks. Because they have been absolutely shunned. The other thing, I'm going to fight very hard for business. For the wealthy, I think, frankly, it's going to go up [talking about the tax rate]. And you know what, it really should go up.’ (‘Meet the Press,’ May 8, 2016)”
- “‘I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people who cannot defend themselves’ (GOP convention speech, July 21, 2016)”
- “‘We are transferring power from Washington DC and giving it back to you, the American People///The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.’ (Inaugural address, Jan. 20, 2017)”
- “‘I have wealthy friends that say to me I don’t mind paying more tax. And I’ll tell you what I sort of don’t like, is when they – you know, you’ll do your charts in The Wall Street Journal and they’ll be brilliantly done, very nice, and they’ll show that a rich guy who made, you know, $25 million last year is going to pay less than he was. In a certain way, I don’t like that. I’d rather take that difference and put it into the middle-income and put it into corporate.’(Wall Street Journal interview, July 25, 2017)”
- “‘Our framework includes our explicit commitment that tax reform will protect low-income and middle-income households, not the wealthy and well-connected. They can call me all they want. It’s not going to help. I’m doing the right thing, and it’s not good for me. Believe me.’ (Speech on the GOP tax plan, Sept. 27, 2017)”
But in reality:
- “Under the Senate tax plan, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the poorest Americans are worse off (due to no longer receiving tax credits because the bill eliminates the health-care law’s individual mandate), while the richest American are better off;”
- “Even if you exclude the individual mandate from the analysis, the CBO shows the poorest will see their taxes go up by 2027, because the individual tax cuts are temporary while the corporate ones are permanent;”
- “According to the Tax Policy Center, by 2027, the wealthiest get nearly 62 percent of all benefits under the Senate bill, while two-thirds of middle-class Americans would face a tax increase;”
- “Per NBC’s own analysis, Trump and his family could save more than $1 billion under the House tax plan that passed two weeks ago;”
- “And when it comes to the dispute over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Trump has sided with financial institutions, tweeting: ‘The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has been a total disaster as run by the previous Administrations pick. Financial Institutions have been devastated and unable to properly serve the public. We will bring it back to life!’”