GOP tax reform bill opposed by half of Americans

The tax reform bill Republicans released on Thursday faces yet another obstacle: It’s not popular among the public.

Exactly half, or 50%, of Americans opposed the GOP’s tax reform plan after hearing a rough framework of the proposal, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll released Friday. Just 33% support the Republicans’ tax plan, the survey found.

Nearly two-thirds, or 60%, said they think the proposals “favor the rich,” while just 13% said they “favor the middle class.”

Before Thursday, Republicans had released the general framework for their proposal, but had not made public all of the details, including what income levels fell within different tax brackets, and what deductions and exemptions would be axed in order to pay for the plan.

Now that the details have been released, there are a number of landmines that opponents of the plan can weaponize to defeat the proposal. They include nixing things such as the student-loan interest deduction, a deduction that allows filers to itemize their health care costs and an adoption tax credit that allows families who adopt children to write off some of the expenses.

Public backlash against the plan could make its already narrow path to passage even narrower.