The People Still Want Their Tax Cuts

Fighting for lower taxes might still be a winning campaign message. (Hot Air)

A new Public Opinion Strategies poll: 76% of voters believe now is a bad time to increase taxes, and only 5% think it's a good time.

• 72% think letting Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts and Job Acts expire in 2025 would be a tax hike.

The cons: Should Congress let the TCJA expire, a single parent earning $30,000 could see a $1,000+ annual tax increase, and a family of four earning $75,000 could face an increase of over $1,500.

• We could also see reduced business investment and consumer spending from higher tax rates, which would increase across various brackets.

The pros: Getting rid of the TCJA, according to the Congressional Budget Office, could reduce deficits by reversing its projected $1.3 trillion increase in the primary deficit and $1.9 trillion debt impact over 10 years.

• According to a Brookings Institution analysis, most of the tax cuts benefit high-income households, with 44% of the pass-through provisions favoring those earning above $1 million.

• The TCJA's effect on long-term economic growth is projected to be small, with GDP increasing only by 0.5% by 2028.

Related: Per a Morning Consult poll released earlier this month, decreasing the federal income tax rate enjoys +41 net support among voters.

• And there’s even +12 net support for reducing the corporate tax rate.

Bubba’s Two Cents

It’s been said that the traditional small government and tax cuts GOP perspective has been left out in the cold. The campaign messaging theme from both candidates seems to be, “how much stuff can we promise voters?” Whether it’s caps on drug prices, raising the minimum wage, expanding the child tax credit or subsidies for first-time homebuyers, these electoral goodies tend to be pretty popular. But the Public Opinion Strategies survey, along with the mostly favorable response to Trump’s tax cut proposals, suggests there are some elements of a fiscal conservative view that still resonate with voters.