President Donald Trump and the Republicans sold their slapdash effort at tax reform as a boon to the middle class. As the law goes into effect, however, new polling suggests that most Americans are struggling to see any benefit at all in their paychecks.
A survey from Politico and Morning Consult found that only 37 percent of employed people have seen an increase in their paychecks since the law went into effect, while 53 percent of people have not noticed a change.
One big difference between the people who are seeing a pay increase and those who aren't? Income.
“Our polling shows high-income earners are more likely to have noticed an increase in their paychecks as a result of the tax bill," said Kyle Dropp, Morning Consult’s co-founder and chief research officer.
Only 16 percent of people with an income under $50,000 a year said they noticed a pay increase. That number rises to 33 percent of people with income between $50,000 and $100,000, and 40 percent for people who make more than $100,000.
These findings emphasize the fact that the bill was never designed to be a tax cut for working Americans. It was designed, first and foremost, to be a massive giveaway for corporations. It slashed the corporate tax rate at the cost of $2 trillion over ten years.
Oh, and those meager individuals tax cuts that only some people are seeing? The tax bill actually phases them out over the next ten years. By the end of a decade, taxes on many people are slated to go up.
Once again, the GOP sold a policy to the American people that was a total bait-and-switch.
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