The GOP’s fight to hide the cost of its next tax cut has already begun

[robosmith]

The GOP’s fight to hide the cost of its next tax cut has already begun

Quote

Republicans are trying to hide the full cost of their planned tax cuts from voters — by preemptively smearing the scorekeepers.

The 2017 Trump tax cuts came with a massive price tag: The legislation added $1.9 trillion to deficits over a decade, as estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in coordination with the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). That figure even accounted for the law’s expected economic growth effects, which Republicans touted at the time. The law’s proponents didn’t want to hear it and kept insisting their tax cuts would fully pay for themselves.

A huge portion of those tax cuts are scheduled to expire next year, and the fight to prevent more inconvenient numbers from coming out has already begun.

The CBO and JCT have released several estimates for how much red ink would be required to extend the tax breaks. Each time they release a new estimate, the price grows. In fact, since the first estimate was released back in 2018, the cost of extension has grown by about 50 percent, as the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget recently noted. That’s the equivalent of an additional $1.2 trillion through 2034, for a total price tag of more than $4 trillion over a decade.

This swelling cost is partly because of higher-than-expected inflation and income growth over the past few years. But given that the proposal’s cost as a share of the overall economy (which is also boosted by inflation and income growth) has also risen, there are other factors at play. They include some unanticipated abuse of GOP-preferred tax breaks, as well as workarounds for what were supposed to be revenue raisers (such as a cap on state and local tax deductions).

In any event, this rising price tag is bad news for Republicans. Should they gain control of the White House and both chambers of Congress next year, they’re hoping to fast-track more tax cuts on a party-line vote. Once again, Republicans are expected to (falsely) claim their tax cuts fully pay for themselves and thus won’t worsen the federal deficits they sometimes claim to worry about.

So how is the GOP preparing for next year’s tax battle? By preemptively fighting with the refs. And even worse, by potentially incapacitating them.

Last week, House Republican leadership sent around a “questionnaire” to its members in what appears to be prep work for discrediting or kneecapping the politically neutral CBO, which is tasked with scoring legislative bills. An email with letterhead from House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) said the House Budget Committee was trying to assess the “responsiveness, accuracy, and perceived bias” of the CBO, specifically to help “strategic and legislative planning” for the party’s upcoming tax-and-budget legislation.

It’s unclear as yet what will come of this exercise. When he was president before, Donald Trump showed no qualms about undermining or blowing up world-renowned, independent statistical agencies full of talented experts. It’s reasonable to worry his acolytes might try something similar here.

For the party of alternative facts, few things are more dangerous than an institution that tries to be a neutral arbiter of truth.

 RepubliCONS' tax cuts have NEVER paid for themselves, but that doesn't stop them from continually floating the same BULLSHIT PROMISE.

[gatomontes99]

Tax cuts dont cost anything.

[robosmith]

50 minutes ago, gatomontes99 said:

Tax cuts dont cost anything.

At the minimum they cost interest on more borrowed money because they increase the deficit and debt.

Did you ever take economics? LMAO

[gatomontes99]

2 hours ago, robosmith said:

At the minimum they cost interest on more borrowed money because they increase the deficit and debt.

Did you ever take economics? LMAO

Yes. I know a little about economics. Tax cost never cost anything.