Taxes

CBO: The GOP Tax Bill is Worse Than Previously Reported

Written by SK Ashby

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has analyzed the Senate Republican tax cut bill and found that it would negatively impact every American making less than $30,000 even before various provisions expire.

via CNBC:

The lowest-income American households would take a hit while higher-earning taxpayers would see their burden reduced under the Senate Republican tax plan, according to the latest analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. [...]

In 2019, all income groups under $30,000 would have a bigger burden under the bill, the CBO projected. In 2027, that would extend to all income groups under $75,000, as individual tax reductions expire.

Like previous reports, this includes the effects of repealing the individual mandate included in Obamacare, but this report also includes the automatic cuts to Medicaid and Medicare the bill would trigger.

Republicans say those cuts won't actually happen because they'll reverse them before it comes to that, but I see no reason to place any confidence in them. Why should we expect they'll avert automatic cuts to Medicaid when they've been trying to cut it by a trillion dollars every year since Obamacare was signed into law?

Whether or not the tax bill passes may come down to a handful of Republican senators acknowledging the truth or lying to themselves. But I suppose that's what every Republican bill comes down to.