The long-awaited Republican tax plan did not receive much fanfare Thursday, as liberals and conservatives both knocked the proposed legislation.
From left-wing Democrats such as Sen. Bernie Sanders to moderate Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democratic Party universally condemned the tax plan.
"This budget would do incalculable harm to tens of millions of working families, women, kids, the sick, the elderly, and the poor," Sanders said in a statement. "While decimating life and death programs for working families, the Republican budget provides $1.9 trillion in tax breaks for the richest people in our country and the largest corporations. In fact, about 80 percent of the Republican tax breaks would go to the top 1 percent and 40 percent to the top 1/10 of 1 percent."
Manchin indicated in his Owen statement that the bill did not live up to President Donald Trump's promises.
"My test for a good tax reform proposal is simple: does it enable working West Virginians to keep more of their hard-earned money, does it help West Virginia businesses create jobs, and does it do these things without exploding our debt," Manchin said. "The tax reform proposal unveiled today does not pass this test and does not reflect the goals President Trump and I have discussed."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in a video with Sanders Thursday that the biggest beneficiaries of the tax plan were big banks and multinational corporations.
"Republicans are planning to rain about $2 trillion in tax giveaways down on corporations," Warren said.
The GOP unveiled their tax proposal this morning. Who wins and who loses in their plan? Bernie and I will tell you. pic.twitter.com/AjXyKyA8AA
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 2, 2017
Perhaps more surprisingly, even some conservative groups were not pleased with the final turnout of the tax plan. The Club for Growth, a prominent free-market group, slammed parts of the bill, saying it "effectively punishes success and caves to the Democrats’ class warfare rhetoric."
The group applauded the corporate tax rate cuts and write-offs for business investments but said that the bill did not go far enough to help small businesses, Wall Street Journal reported.
David McIntosh, the group's president, criticized the 39.6 percent top tax rate on individuals.
“Fortunately, the Senate will have an opportunity to improve upon the shortcomings in the House bill," he said.
U.S. stocks slipped in late morning trading on Thursday, Reuters reported, as investors began to research a summary of the Republican tax bill that called for a massive overhaul of the tax code.
“The idea of this plan getting approved is still a long shot,” Phil Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management in New York, said, Reuters reported.
“I don’t think the market or most economists think they can get this done. There’s just not enough consensus in the House to move this forward.”
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