Convincing the Less Than 1%

Cassi Alexandra for The New York Times

"Canvassers from Americans for Prosperity, the conservative group funded by the Koch brothers, discussed the Republican tax bill with residents of the Azalea Park neighborhood in Orlando, Fla., on Saturday.

“We believe it’s time to fix our broken tax code and let families keep more of what they earn,” said Barbara D’Ambrosio, a sophomore high school student reading from her script.

“The American people have waited 31 long years to see our broken tax code overhauled,” the leaders of the Koch’s political network insisted in a letter to members of Congress on Monday, urging swift approval of final legislation. They added that the time had come to put “more money in the pockets of American families.” The problem, as Republicans are learning, is that most Americans do not believe that is what the tax plan will do. Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist, said that amid all the talk about the need to score an important victory for their party, “it bears mentioning that the ‘win’ is something that is extraordinarily unpopular with 75 percent of the American people.”

In counties where Mr. Trump performed exceptionally well — that he won but Mr. Obama carried in 2012, or where he ran 20 percent ahead of what Mitt Romney received in 2012 — only 17 percent said they expect to pay less in taxes, according to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Another 25 percent said they expected their family would actually pay higher taxes.

— Jeremy W. Peter, "Conservative Groups Seeking Support for Tax Cuts Find It a Hard Sell", New York Times, December 7, 2017

Broken tax code indeed. The Republican tax bill will not let anyone but the richest 1% keep more of what they do or don't earn.