The 2016 Republican field has done something we once thought impossible: make Mitt Romney’s tax plan look moderate. GOP tax plans have always favored the wealthiest Americans, but this year, candidates are taking that to a new extreme.
Just how skewed to the rich are the GOP plans?
- Marco Rubio is pushing what was once considered a “fringe idea,” ending capital gains and dividend income taxes. Under that plan, Romney wouldn’t pay a dime of federal taxes. Yet, there’s little evidence that cutting capital gains taxes would have a significant economic impact.
- Donald Trump would lower the income tax rate for top earners to its lowest level since 1931, while only giving small cuts to lower-income Americans. Over ten years, Trump’s cuts would equal $10 trillion in lost government revenue, and it’s still unclear how he would make up the difference.
- Ted Cruz is pushing a regressive flat-tax plan that would increase tax rates for the middle class, while giving a huge break to the rich — increasing their after-tax income by nearly 30%.
While Republicans tell stories of their humble beginnings — “my father was a bartender”; or, “my grandmother came to America with nothing but the clothes on her back” — they’re proposing tax policies that would benefit billionaires and millionaires like the Koch brothers and leave middle and working-class Americans far behind.
Published: Feb 6, 2016