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News > World

US Senate Approves Donald Trump's Unpopular Tax Bill

  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks about the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks about the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. | Photo: Reuters

Published 20 December 2017
Opinion

"This is lesgislation they don't want, but it is legislation they're going to get after 6,000 lobbyists worked on it," Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said. 

The U.S. Senate has voted 51-48 to pass President Donald Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act after the bill was comfortably approved, despite widespread public opposition. 

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Protesters interrupted the session, chanting "Kill the bill, don't kill us!" Demonstrations have been organized by numerous progressive groups, such as Social Security Works; the Center for Popular Democracy; Housing Works; the Women's March; the Strong Economy for All Coalition, and Hedge Clippers. 

Last Wednesday, 84 protesters were arrested when they refused to leave the Senate offices.

Their main concern is that the tax bill will add US$1 trillion to the deficit, which will allow Republicans to cut social programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, a fear shared by Democratic Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. 

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduces corporate taxes by 14 percentage points, from 35 percent to 21 percent; raises by 50 percent the amount exempted from 40 percent inheritance tax, which was previously set at US$5.5 million for individuals and US$11 million for couples; and eliminates corporate tax on income from abroad.

 

Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan celebrated the bill's approval in a series of tweets asserting it will "put the American economy in the lead of the global economy again."

Ryan highlighted the fact the bill doubles the tax credit per child from US$1,000 to US $2,000. However, the tax credit move followed the elimination of the personal exemption, approximately US$4,000, that could be claimed for every family member. 

The Tax Policy Center has found that all income groups will experience a tax reduction in 2018. However, the centre also points out that "the largest cuts as a share of income [are] going to taxpayers in the 95th to 99th percentiles of the income distribution." 

According to a poll conducted by Monmouth University between December 10 and 12, 47 percent of U.S. citizens disapprove of the tax bill and 50 percent believe they will have to pay higher taxes. 

Earlier this year, the Pew Reseach Center published a survey on general frustrations with the U.S. Tax System. The results revealed that 62 percent are "bothered" because corporations don't pay their fare share, while 60 percent feel the same way about wealthy people not paying their share. 

"This is lesgislation they don't want, but it is legislation they're going to get after 6,000 lobbyists worked on it," Senator Sanders said. New York Democrat Chuck Schumer warned Republican lawmakers that "The substance and polling are so rotten that a year from now Republicans will be running from this bill."

Despite their apparent defeat, progressive groups are organizing a march for April 15, 2018, to "repeal the Trump Tax."

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