Mic Wakeup: What the GOP tax plan could pay for and how it’s actually hurting Republicans

It’s Wednesday, Dec. 6. Here are two stories you need to read.

All the things the Republican tax plan could pay for

On Saturday, Senate Republicans passed a tax plan that could add an estimated $1 trillion to America’s debt.

But, what if the GOP never passed that bill? What could that money pay for instead?

“The real key, no matter what you think about economic growth, is to think about what we’re not paying for,” Josh Gordon, policy director at the Concord Coalition, told Mic. “Look at the cost of the tax bill and wonder, is that the best use of resources?”

Indeed, as Mic pointed out in an earlier post, that $1 trillion could pay for a decade’s worth of food stamps, or could more than cover the cost of Medicare — $600 billion — for an entire year. Better yet, that $1 trillion could fund the entire cost to run the entire federal government, for one full year.

And that’s not even the end of this economic story. The bill lowers the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. According to Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Budget, every single percentage point slashed means another $100 billion lost in federal revenue over 10 years.

“I can’t think of the last time we passed legislation that was this irresponsible,” MacGuineas said.

Nobody likes the tax plan, including Republicans

President Donald Trump called the GOP’s tax plan a “big, beautiful Christmas present” for the American people. Too bad it’s a gift they apparently don’t want.

According to two new polls by both Gallup and Quinnipiac University released on Tuesday, voters would rather have Democrats lead the charge on tax reform. And those findings could spell trouble for Republicans in the upcoming midterms.

“Intensity seems to be on the side of the opposition, with Democrats paying closer attention to news about the tax proposals and appearing more unified in their opposition to the plan than Republicans are in support of it,” Gallup said in a statement. Its poll found that just 29% of Americans overall approve of the proposed tax changes.

Meanwhile, the Quinnipiac poll found that voters believe the GOP’s plan “favors the rich at the expense of the middle class,” which is exactly the opposite of what Republicans wanted or needed from this bill.

According to the poll’s results, 53% of voters disapprove of the plan. Republicans approve of the plan 67 - 10%, and were the only party, gender, education, age or racial group listed to approve of the bill.