Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Propaganda Works: Majority of Americans Now Believe the GOP Bill Will Raise Their Taxes.
Townhall.com ^ | December 13, 2017 | Guy Benson

Posted on 12/13/2017 12:25:07 PM PST by Kaslin

A new national survey conducted by Marist College's polling operation shows that a 52 percent majority of US voters believe the Republican tax reform proposal will negatively impact their personal financial situation.  Less than one-in-three respondents think they'll benefit.  This overwhelmingly inaccurate perception represents the fruit of Democrats' media-aided labor over recent weeks, as they've flooded the national debate with factually false assertions and ludicrous hysteria.  The truth, as we've relayed on numerous occasions, is that nonpartisan analyses of the plan have concluded that on average, every income group will receive a tax cut -- including, if not especially, the middle class.  I have not shied away from conceding potential negative outcomes for certain taxpayers, nor have I dismissed deficit-related concerns; the fact remains, however, that the exceedingly lopsided majority of taxpayers will see their tax burdens lowered and after-tax incomes rise under the Republican bill.  The green dots below represent middle class households currently taking the standard deduction that will see a tax reduction (the red dots are the very rare exceptions):

NYT editors, today: GOP tax reform doesn't help the middle class.

NYT news analysis, yesterday: Virtually every single middle-income taxpayer who takes the standard deduction (70%! of filers) will get a tax cut, as will a substantial majority of those who itemize. pic.twitter.com/PuOhZcXzLY— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) November 29, 2017


Roughly 70 percent of filers already take the standard deduction (a number expected to expand), which is set to approximately double under the legislation.  Virtually every single one of these people would emerge as net winners.  And according to a New York Times analysis, a substantial majority of middle income filers who itemize (rather than taking the standard deduction) would also see their tax bill decrease.  As we explained yesterday, most of the scare-mongering talking points employed by Democrats to achieve the polling results mentioned above -- if not entirely made up -- are rooted in cherry-picked information and misrepresentation.  Only a small sliver of taxpayers (in the ballpark of ten percent) might expect to see their tax bill rise due to tax reform, and those are disproportionately wealthier itemizers who live in high-tax blue states.  Here's the political question Republicans need to ask themselves: Will real facts and empirical reality regain the high ground once Americans actually, you know, file their post-reform taxes?  If so, the vast majority of taxpayers will realize that Democrats were lying to them.  Conservative policy wonk and activist Phil Kerpen is urging people to calculate their own tax scenario using this online tool:

A political strategy completely at odds with reality seems unlikely to end well. Are you going to believe Dems/media or your lying paycheck? https://t.co/2L1M1U05OH— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) December 12, 2017


The nonpartisan Tax Foundation also ran the numbers on how a wide array of American families would fare under reform, concluding that every household they profiled came out ahead:

Nonpartisan Tax Foundation analysis of Senate tax bill: "Our results indicate a reduction in tax liability for every scenario we modeled, with some of the largest cuts accruing to moderate-income families with children." Lower taxes & higher post-tax income across the board... pic.twitter.com/SPoRFBAYfF— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) November 28, 2017


The follow-up question for Republicans is, even if a massive supermajority of Americans do experience tax relief, will the media and Democrats try to drown out those stories by showcasing individual negative cases?  The GOP should count on it, and develop an aggressive messaging strategy to highlight the countless winners under reform, constantly beating the drum about how Democrats' (literally) apocalyptic predictions were embarrassingly wrong. Unlike Obamacare, which spat out significantly more losers than winners after everyone was promised utopia, many, many more taxpayers will benefit from the Republican plan than will feel a setback -- to say nothing of independent projections of faster economic growth and the creation of nearly one million new full-time jobs.  Meanwhile, here's a late-breaking detail about the compromise framework that has reportedly been reached ahead of the now-ongoing conference committee's work:

GOP final tax bill details, per two sources briefed:
* 21% corporate rate
* 37% top individual rate
* 20% pass-through deduction
* $750k for mortgage interest— Ylan Q. Mui (@ylanmui) December 12, 2017


The highest tax bracket will receive a small rate cut after all (the House bill didn't include a rate cut at the top), and the corporate tax cut was scaled back by one percentage point.  Is the revenue attached to that slight uptick in the proposed corporate rate being put to the best use, policy-wise or politically?  Ramesh Ponnuru says no, and I'm inclined to agree (as is Marco Rubio, incidentally):

So that 20% corporate tax rate turned out not be the non-negotiable line in the sand we were told it was. https://t.co/L43jjkyNsl— Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) December 12, 2017


I'll leave you with a strong editorial in favor of reform, which posits that once tax reform is implemented and Americans see the results, liberal myths "will be demolished by reality."  Also, read this report about economic bullishness among American manufacturers in anticipation of pro-growth reform.  Quote: "63 percent of [manufacturing] CEOs said business tax reform would encourage capital spending and more than half said they would expand their businesses."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; Government
KEYWORDS: 115th; clintonnonnews; cnn; demonrats; dncstrategy; enemypropaganda; factcheck; incometaxes; jobsandeconomy; mediawingofthednc; partisanmediashills; propaganda; taxcuts; taxreform; trumptaxcuts
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-127 last
To: LouieFisk
They did do changes in Joint Committee today beyond the state property tax write off.

CNutN: "The State and Local Tax deduction will be expanded, beyond just property taxes, to include income tax. It would be capped at $10,000."

NY Slimes: "Allow individuals to choose whether to deduct up to $10,000 in income, sales or property taxes."

121 posted on 12/13/2017 7:27:34 PM PST by Red Steel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Kickass Conservative
For instance, we bought our Home in 1991 for about $240,000. Our Property Taxes were $2,500 a year. Now, 16 Years later our Home is worth about $750,000 and our Property Taxes are $3,600.

16 years?

When I call CA a high property tax, I'm looking at absolute dollars paid based on very high house prices.

122 posted on 12/13/2017 7:37:59 PM PST by CatOwner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 120 | View Replies]

To: CatOwner

If we sold our House the new Owner would be paying 1.25% of the Sale Price, minus the big $7,000 Owner Occupied Exemption.

Under Prop 13 and some follow up Legislation, a Homeowner aged 55 and over can transfer the Assessed Value to another Property they bought for the same price or less than they sold their old House for.

The Sacramento Mexican Mafia Politicians hate Prop 13 with a passion.


123 posted on 12/13/2017 7:54:11 PM PST by Kickass Conservative ( THEY LIVE, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: Hot Tabasco; Mariner
$19,200 annual mortgage interest...

$19,200 mortgage interest alone based on a $140K salary? You're screwed bro. I'd love to see the house you bought for that rate and money.

"Among the other tax breaks, negotiators agreed to eliminate the alternative minimum tax for corporations, a big sticking point for the business community, the aides said. They also agreed to let homeowners deduct interest on the first $750,000 of a new mortgage, down from the current limit of $1 million.

The provision would not affect current mortgages."

http://time.com/5062837/house-senate-gop-tax-bill-agreement/

124 posted on 12/13/2017 8:01:16 PM PST by Red Steel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

Lotsa peeps live in Calif. w/o paying taxes.

In the past year we are seeing a lot of semi permanent people living in our Californicator year with cars licensed in: Nevada, Washington and Alaska.

They own homes in California and another home in Nevada, Washington or Alaska. They vote there and have drivers’s licenses from those states.

Those out of state homes must be empty a lot during the year.

We are seeing a few semi permanent Texas vehicles here during the tornado season and hot summers.


Seven U.S. states currently don’t have an income tax: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. And residents of New Hampshire and Tennessee are also spared from handing over an extra chunk of their paycheck on April 15, though they do pay tax on dividends and income from investments.Jan 13, 2015.


125 posted on 12/14/2017 9:00:42 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Build Kate's wall! Keep illegals and illegal murderers/criminals out of America! MAGA! SLAP ACT!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

“It’s a great relief to no longer have the governments putting me in their tax slave chains for ~ 40% of my working hours.”

I did consulting after retiring at age 56 for 6 years.

Living in Californicator Land with its income tax, paying both sides of SS and Medicaid. Our CPA suggested that I put every other paycheck into an escrow act. for my quarterly payments. My wife paid big time each paycheck claiming zero deductions. We still ended up owing about 1k for Federal taxes and 500$ for Cali taxes over our quarterly payments, and my wife’s payroll deductions.

Our CPA told me to pull the plug at 62 and go on SS and work on my IRA and my wife’s IRA and 401k.

Best move I ever made and the best financial advice ever.


126 posted on 12/14/2017 9:19:45 AM PST by Grampa Dave (Build Kate's wall! Keep illegals and illegal murderers/criminals out of America! MAGA! SLAP ACT!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 77 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Mine will go down a lot, but i actually used the tax calculator, i don’t take anything the media says as true cause it normally aint when its about republicans.


127 posted on 12/14/2017 7:10:27 PM PST by Monorprise
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 61-8081-100101-120121-127 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson