I don't understand why the Dems don't run directly against tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy.
They are. Democrats running in 2018 have targeted the Trump Tax Cut. Its Republicans who won’t defend them, while hoping yelling “Pelosi!” and running the other way works out for them as an election strategy.
Used to be, I think, that a tax cut (for whomever) was a safe bet politically and not a big mobilizing force for voters who opposed it. That’s not working out this time around, for a few reasons;
A) The guy who proposed it…he is unpopular, and when you are a fat cat who (along with your buddies) personally benefits hugely from a policy it is going to get more scrutiny from voters. Republicans tried that play on Obama with Solyndra, but this time it’s real. Outside of some other possibilities, this is why Trump won’t release his tax returns. Best voters don’t know
exactly how many billions Trump signed over to himself.
B) The hyped benefits are, so far, all hype. Republicans sold the cut as primarily a booster for middle class wages. Wages this year haven’t kept up with inflation, so real wages have gone
down in 2018, especially for people below the top 25%. The same people Paul Ryan & Co. promised big raises to (remember that $4,000/year number?) haven’t seen squat while stock buybacks set records. People who don’t pay attention to the daily back and forth of politics notice when they look at their paychecks once or twice a month and see that they have been lied to.
C) Democrats have done a good job articulating the trade-offs, and (accurately) describing Republican priorities. I think it was Connor Lamb who had the ad that highlighted how quickly Ryan pivoted from passing the $1.5 Trillion tax cut to proposing cuts in social spending.
D) Republicans spent 8 years hyping the dangers of a deficit, and while they are
strangely silent on that now, people remember. And no one who isn’t a deeply indoctrinated right winger believes the bullshit that tax cuts pay for themselves anymore.
Republicans want to tell the working class that immigrants are to blame for their lack of economic advancement, Democrats are having some success pointing at the real culprits. And when your target is as large as a big orange blonde inflatable baby, that helps.
Poll
5 (45.5%)