Trump Tax Cut Was Neither Bane Nor Boon
Ignore the campaign claims on both sides. The 2017 law didn’t favor the rich or boost the economy. (It did pump up the deficit, but how many voters care about that?)
Political football.
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump’s main legislative accomplishment as he runs for re-election is the Tax Cut and Jobs Act that he signed at the end of his first year in office. It is the linchpin of the Republicans’ case that their economic policies have worked. Trump’s Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, has said that he will repeal the tax cut if he wins, or at least repeal some of it. To the (very limited) extent this campaign will be a debate about public policy, the tax bill will be one of its main subjects.
The bill was complex and unwieldy legislation with many moving parts. Many people saw some of its provisions raise their tax payments while others reduced them. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that neither side’s talking points about the law really hold up to scrutiny.