By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--December 21, 2017
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In just six seconds, the new ad from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee previews an attack that will have millions of dollars behind it in 2018. “The Republican tax scheme gives huge breaks to corporations but raises taxes on middle class families,” says a narrator, as a woman checks her mailbox and recoils. Democrats, routed but unified against the tax bill, plan to make it the centerpiece of a midterm campaign — one that may play out in a growing economy where the worst predictions about the tax cuts fall flat. Republicans, who once hoped that Democrats would feel pressured to back the bill, now suggest that voters will learn that the Democrats misled them.Basically, Dems are going to spend the next year shrieking about "corporate handouts" and "tax cuts for the rich." It's the exact same playbook they've been using for thirty years - division, jealousy, and class warfare.
It will also be a key part of a 2018 campaign by the #NotOnePenny coalition, formed by progressives to oppose the tax cut. Next year, the coalition will up its media buy from $5 million to $10 million, hold 100 days of anti-tax cut events, and rally on April 15 in Washington “against tax policy that further rigs the economy in favor of the wealthy.”
-- But here’s the truth: 8 in 10 Americans will pay lower taxes next year, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center’s analysis of the final bill. Only 5 percent of people will pay more next year. Mostly, those are folks who earn six figures and own expensive houses in places with high local taxes, such as New York and California.This is the reality Democrats face. They'll be screaming about the evils of the tax bill while people are noticing that the feds have confiscated less of their money. They're going to have to try to convince 80% of the American people that they'd be better off if they had less money in their pockets. Right now, polling says they can do it. However, polling once said Hillary had a 96% chance of being your next President. I'd be willing to bet that the WaPo's second column is right. The more people get used to having more money - even if it's less that conservatives would like them to have - the harder it will be for Democrats to sell them on the allegedly inequitable nature of the new tax code.
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