We're just one month into the new tax bill, and only those wearing left-wing ideological blinders -- which, unfortunately, is still the case for millions of anti-Trumpers -- can deny that Donald Trump's tax cuts are helping just about everyone. The avalanche of news stories of bonuses, pay raises, fringe benefit payments, job openings and factories relocating to the United States piles up with each passing week. As many as 3 million Americans have received such pay boosts.
And the vast majority of people haven't even yet gotten their tax cut dividends, which will be delivered in the form of higher take-home paychecks.
Last month the tax bill was favored by only about 1 in 4 voters, but it is growing more popular every day, as voters discover that liberals were lying all along about who really benefits from the bill. If these bonuses and pay raises are mere "crumbs," as millionaire Nancy Pelosi hisses, workers want more of them.
As the old saying goes: Nothing succeeds like success.
Republicans should seize the moment of this tax cut miracle cure and make sure that the cuts don't expire anytime soon. Only about a third of the tax bill's benefits are permanent. Most of the cuts for the middle class -- including the lower income tax rates, the doubling of the standard deduction, and the additional $500 per child tax credit -- will expire after 2024 because of arcane budget rules.
But fixing that problem is easy: Vote to make the tax cuts permanent so no one faces a tax hike. Many Democrats would resume their chants of "Tax cuts for the rich," but most of these cuts put money in the pockets of the middle class.
All the Democrats voted no on the Trump tax bill in December -- effectively following their leaders Nancy Pelosi and Charles Schumer off a cliff to nowhere.
There is a good chance that a new vote on the tax bill could yield 60 votes in the Senate and a huge majority in the House, now that the tax bill's economic success is irrefutable. But either way, Republicans win.
If Democrats vote yes, the cuts are cemented into law for many years to come.
If Democrats vote thumbs down again, the party will appear all the more hopelessly out of touch with middle-class workers. They will be voting to allow middle-class taxes to go up. Bernie Sanders recently said on CNN: "We should've made the tax cuts for the middle class permanent." Well, Bernie, now's your chance to do just that.
Some GOP leaders don't want to allow Democrats who represent red states -- such as Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota -- to have a second bite at the tax cut apple.
They want Democrats who voted no to pay a price at the polls.
That's short-term thinking. If a revote wins dozens of House Democrats and even a handful of Senate Democrats, this would prove that Trump's signature policy victory is now truly bipartisan. The ultimate way to win in politics is to bring the other side over to your side. This would be a long-overdue concession by Democrats that the tax cut is working.
This vote would also isolate the left-wing Trump resistance movement. For the past 12 months Democrats have voted as a bloc against anything that Trump is for. A tax cut vote could offer the first signs that some in the Democratic caucus are relaxing their anti-Trump stance. It would help normalize Trump and his policies. And it would help the economy grow faster and longer.
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