President Donald Trump, center, speaks as Vice President Mike Pence, left, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, listen during a joint session of Congress in Washington, D.C. (Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

We used to say politics was the art of behaving as if no one has any memory. With the passage of the brand new Republican tax plan, we can amend that.

It’s the art of behaving as if people are stupid.

The Republicans passed this plan without an ounce of Democratic support, and almost without any support from the rest of the country. Only 24 percent of the nation – including Republican voters – like what they’ve seen and read about this tax plan. Only 31 percent of college-educated whites like it, only 29 percent of whites with no college education like it, and only 28 percent of rural whites like it.

The last two categories are particularly important, since they’re the folks who voted Donald J. Trump into the White House.

Trump’s the guy who was taking bows before the TV cameras as the bill headed toward his White House desk today. It’s the first piece of major legislation he’s been able to get through in nearly a year in office, yet he lost no time indicating that his administration is one of the great ones in American history.

On the tax bill, Trump sat there still calling it a great day for middle-class Americans, despite figures from the Tax Policy Center showing why the super-rich, corporate CEOs and the Wall Street types are the ones doing cartwheels all the way to the bank today.

Those Tax Policy Center nerds must be lumped in with the rest of us – too stupid to understand what a great thing this tax bill is.

But let’s look at a few of the bill’s numbers, just to push aside all the political hyperbole and focus on some basic arithmetic for a moment. They say the middle fifth of American households will see an average increase in after-tax income next year of $930. That’s about $19 a week, so don’t go blowing it on a new yacht.

Meanwhile, the richest 1 percent will get an average after-tax increase of $51,140. That’s about a thousand bucks a week. These are people who are already multi-millionaires. Yeah, good thing we’re looking after them. The rest of us can wave hello to them as they float past on their new yachts.

The latest NBC poll says 63 percent of the country believes the new tax bill is mainly helping the super-rich and the heavyweight corporations. The poll also says only 7 percent believe it’s aimed at the middle class.

And we haven’t even mentioned the thing that used to terrify Republicans, but apparently no longer does — the estimates that this tax bill will add nearly $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. How will the Republicans deal with that? House Speaker Paul Ryan has already said he wants to cut a bunch of social programs aimed at protecting the aged and the vulnerable.

Good luck with that, Mr. Speaker. New polling asks, “Do you oppose reducing federal funding to pay for tax cuts?” Specifically on the three big ones, more than 80 percent of Americans oppose cuts to Social Security, roughly 80 percent oppose cuts to Medicare, and nearly that many oppose cuts to Medicaid.

Does it matter? The numbers opposing this new tax bill were nearly that high. But somehow they slipped it past us. It’s just politics – the art of believing people are stupid.

Michael OleskerA former Baltimore Sun columnist and WJZ-TV commentator, Michael Olesker is the author of six books. His most recent, “Front Stoops in the Fifties: Baltimore Legends Come of Age,” has just been re-issued in paperback by the Johns Hopkins University Press.

 

 

You May Also Like
Dr. Scott Rifkin: The Dilemma for Jews
Joe Biden

When it comes to concern that President Biden's support for Israel is wavering, look at actions not words, writes Jmore Publisher Scott Rifkin M.D.

A New Era for the O’s
Jackson Holliday

Even the great "Earl of Baltimore," Earl Weaver, never had a lineup with as much raw talent as the 2024 Orioles team, writes Michael Olesker.

Praying for the Hostages in Gaza and the ‘Whole House of Israel’
livestream of the Shema broadcast from the Western Wall

The Acheinu prayer reminds us that the deeper we go into the experience of those suffering, the more fervently we will pray for their speedy redemption, writes Rabbi Dr. Eli Yoggev.

Global Village
Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg talks to the Beth Am audience before playing his guitar. (Photo by Jim Burger)

Despite technological strides, human beings still need to interact and be in close proximity to each other, writes Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg.