You may be hearing a lot of Republican bullshit…
…about how President Biden’s about-to-be approved American Rescue Plan is being “shoved down the throat” of the helpless American taxpayer, who of course is totally against its many wasteful elements. But how does it stack up against the Trump Tax Giveaway Act of 2017, which was passed with no negotiation and no Democratic votes? Well, both bills cost us about the same amount – 1.9 trillion dollars. Other than that, if we put them side by side it looks like this:
The so-called “Tax Cuts and Jobs” act in 2017 was in fact nothing but an enormous tax cut for rich people and corporations, with only 16% percent of the cuts going to those earning less than $75,000. There was no help in the bill for struggling families, and nothing to create jobs, since it relied on that old GOP lie known as trickle-down economics. But wealthy Republican donors did quite well, as they were handed roughly a trillion and a half dollars in tax cuts, which they used to increase their salaries and bonuses, and to buy back their own corporate stock.
Today’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) includes modest tax relief as well as massive spending to quell the pandemic, but also to assist state and local governments (in both red and blue areas), reopen our schools and to provide economic relief to millions of working families devastated by pandemic-related job loss, foreclosures and evictions.
But, you say, it’s being “rammed through” using the sneaky tactic of Budget Reconciliation. How unfair! But guess what? That’s exactly how Republicans got away with their gift to the very rich back in December of 2017. The difference is that the tax giveaway did nothing for the American people, while the ARP is designed to help the Covid jobless and to keep millions from losing their homes, kids from falling behind in education, cities and states from going bankrupt and tens of thousands more from dying of Covid-19.
Next Election Day, please remember that not one single Republican in either house of Congress voted for the American Rescue Plan, and ask yourself if you want them to remain in office.
[Above chart comes from this enlightening segment on MSNBC.]