The biggest winners of the Republican tax plan are — surprise, surprise — the richest earners in the country.
In news that should surprise nobody, the Joint Committee on Taxation report released on Monday showed that the wealthiest earners in America will rake in more cash and reap the majority of the benefits in 2018 as a result of the tax plan passed last December.
The overhaul to the nation's tax code, which was led by the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans, included a deduction that ranges up to 20 percent for "pass-through" businesses. As The New York Times explained:
While “pass-throughs” is a term often used to refer to small businesses, a Treasury Department analysis found that many are not actually businesses at all. And 69 percent of pass-through income goes to the top one percent of households.
In total, owners of these structures will be showered with $40.2 billion in tax breaks. Of that, $17.4 billion, or 44.3 percent, "will go to roughly 200,000 Americans making $1 million or more," NBC News reported. "Another $3.6 billion, or 8.9 percent, will go to a similar number of taxpayers who earn $500,000 to $1 million."
But wait, there's more. Further down the line, the wealthiest earners will be showered with even more generous tax cuts. "By 2024, the tax deductions will amount to $60.3 billion, and those making $1 million or more will account for $31.6 billion (52.4 percent) of that," NBC noted.
While it's true that other taxpayers, such as roughly 9.2 million who earn between $100,000 and $500,000 "will account for $15.7 billion in deductions, and roughly 9.7 million filers in that income range will get $19.6 billion in 2024," it's worth pointing out that the tax plan is still vastly disproportionate.
Of course, President Donald Trump and his fellow GOP lawmakers marketed the new tax plan as a major overhaul that would improve the lives of middle and working class Americans. Some Republicans expressed regret after voting for it — but it was too late.
"None of us have covered ourselves in glory," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said recently at a Senate Budget Committee hearing, according to the Tennessean. "This Congress and this administration likely will go down as one of the most fiscally irresponsible administrations and Congresses that we’ve had."
He added, "If it ends up costing what has been laid out here, it could well be one of the worst votes I’ve made."
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll highlighted that only 27 percent of all adults believed the tax plan was a good idea, while 36 percent said they believed it was a bad idea. To no surprise, Republicans were the only majority to believe it was a good idea, 56 percent. Still, that sentiment is not at all indicative that Republicans won't dare to enact even more tax cuts this year.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has made efforts to gut billions from welfare and social services programs, which will hurt the poorest Americans. Departing House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has also touted the same, as he has aimed to slash Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
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