We retired Tax Justice Blog in April 2017. For new content on issues related to tax justice, go to www.justtaxesblog.org
Sometimes when presented with fantastical information, the only appropriate response is a heavy sigh and a plea to stop. Please. Just. Stop.
Such has been the case time after time this year as presidential candidates have released tax reform proposals that promise to drastically slash taxes across the board and also generate strong, economic growth. Please. Just. Stop.
Earlier this week, Citizens for Tax Justice released an analysis of Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio’s tax proposal, and the results are exasperating but not surprising. The senator’s plan reserves the greatest share (34 percent) of its tax cuts for the top 1 percent (average annual cut of $223,783), and it would balloon the national debt by $11.8 trillion over a decade.
If this story sounds familiar, well, it is.
CTJ has analyzed other candidates’ tax plans, too. It found that Jeb Bush would give nearly half of his tax cuts to the top 1 percent and add $7.1 trillion to the national debt over 10 years. Donald Trump’s plan would target more than a third of his tax cuts to the top 1 percent, and, like Rubio, would blow a $12 trillion hole in the federal budget over a decade.
Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are offering flat tax proposals that would lower taxes for the rich, increase taxes on low-income people and cost even more than Trump or Rubio’s plans. And Ben Carson has proposed a loosey-goosey “tithing” plan (at a rate of 10 percent or 15 percent, depending on when you ask him) with few details, but apparently with the highest revenue loss of all.
All of these candidates are telling the American public that they have the best interest of the middle class at heart. But a bit of simple math quickly refutes that falsehood.
Yes, most of the candidates claim they would cut taxes for all income groups (with the exception of Bobby Jindal, who fervently and explicitly calls for much higher taxes on the poor). But the superrich would be the greatest beneficiaries by far. And once enormous cuts in public services that these plans would require are taken into account, only the very rich would come out ahead.
To be sure, all of the candidates claim that their plans would produce an enormous increase in economic growth. For example, Bush, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled, “My Tax Overhaul to Unleash 4% Economic Growth,” stated, “By focusing on tax reform like I did in Florida, America can grow faster, too.” Likewise, Trump said his plan, “will create jobs and incentives of all kinds while simultaneously growing the economy.”
But these are just assertions with no backing. The candidates seem to have forgotten that the nation has tried trickle-down economic policies before without success.
When pressed about his deficit-busting plan on CBS’s Face the Nation, Rubio said, “It has to be a combination of things. You have to have the spending discipline on the mandatory spending programs and you need to sustain significant economic growth.”
Well, at least one candidate admits that we can’t have vast tax cuts and adequately fund the nation’s programs and services too.
Josh Barro at the New York Times compared the candidates’ plans to “puppies and rainbows.” Many others also have roundly criticized Republican promises of tax cuts without revenue consequence. You can read some of them here, here, here, here , here, and here.
Recall that George W. Bush promised the nation could cut taxes across the board — but especially for the rich — without budgetary fall out. Instead, Bush’s tax cuts turned surpluses into deficits, even with budget cuts. And as for boosting the economy, economic growth was poor throughout Bush’s presidency and toward the end saw the start of the worst economic recession since the 1930s. Even still, Republican candidates are proposing to double- and triple-down on Bush-era tax policies.
Please. Stop.
“These candidates don’t want to tell the American public the truth,” said Bob McIntyre, director of CTJ. “Taxes are already at historically low rates, and our nation cannot have more massive tax cuts and also meet our priorities. In fact, we need considerably higher taxes, especially on tax-avoiding corporations and wealthy investors. Polls show that a large majority of Americans agree, which makes one wonder why the GOP candidates are calling for just the opposite.”
Today, federal lawmakers are struggling to find ways to fund the Highway Transportation Fund, pay for debts that have been built up over the past four decades and maintain essential public services. And this is with current tax rates. The answer to these very real complex national issues is certainly not crazy, fantastical tax-cut proposals that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy.