VIDEO – The Senate voted in favor of the text on Wednesday, paving the way for a major political victory for the president and his majority, who play..
VIDEO – The Senate voted in favor of the text on Wednesday, paving the way for a major political victory for the president and his majority, who play a large part of their political capital on the virtuous effect they attach to this reform.
Donald Trump finally holds a major legislative victory, the first since his arrival at the White House eleven months ago. The House of Representatives voted on Tuesday in favor of the tax reform by 227 votes against 203. The Senate, with a Republican majority, followed in the night, shortly before 1 a.m.: 51 senators voted for the reform, against 48. The Chamber must vote again on Wednesday morning to adopt a compliant text, but this is a final technical vote. The president, who presented this law as “a big, beautiful Christmas present to Americans”, should sign it before the holidays.
The elected officials largely respected their party affiliation, with the Democrats opposing as a whole. Despite everything, the Democratic senators had three minor articles, according to them, violating the rules of senatorial procedure.
“We believe that due to lower corporate taxes, wages will increase.”
Donald Trump thus respects one of his main electoral promises and achieves a long-sought objective by the conservatives. Their dogma, according to which wealth flows from the top down, inspires this reform of the Tax Code, the most important since Ronald Reagan in 1986. The conviction that by easing the tax burden on the richest, we stimulate growth and however, employment is not unanimous. The last wavering Republican senators fell into line on Monday when an independent analysis by the Tax Policy Center concluded that, in its final version, the law would only increase the tax burden of taxpayers by 5% next year.
"This legislation will ease the strain on workers and their families, encourage job creation in the United States, and spur economic growth that will benefit all Americans," Maine Senator Susan Collins said in announcing his rallying. "We think that because of lower corporate taxes, wages will go up," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday. In the immediate future, however, it was the stock market that soared, reflecting the euphoria of American investors.
“The tax law belongs to the Glicks, the Kovacs, the Giampolos, the Benjamins, the Howards and the millions of Americans who, like them, bleed for their families.”
The president and his majority play a large part of their political capital on the virtuous effect they attach to their reform. Last week, when the law seemed in danger for lack of unanimity among elected Republicans (with Senator John McCain treated for a brain tumor, the majority could only count on 51 votes out of 100), Trump staged five families in the Grand Foyer of the White House, inviting them to say on the microphone how much they were going to benefit from measures still negotiated on Capitol Hill. "The tax law belongs to the Glicks, the Kovacs, the Giampolos, the Benjamins, the Howards and the millions of Americans who, like them, bleed themselves for their families," the president said.
"Chief salesman" of his policy, Trump has focused on the objective, leaving the fiscal mechanics to elected officials and modifying his requirements on the thresholds of taxation according to the compromises. "That's what businessmen do, they focus on the deal," comments Stephen Moore at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank close to the Administration. The president didn't engage with the specifics of the law, but that's okay." Drawing lessons from its failure on the Obamacare reform in April, the White House had set up a small follow-up cell with Steve Mnuchin, economic adviser Gary Cohn and legislative director Marc Short, thus avoiding cacophony.
55% of the public would be opposed to tax cuts, 33% in favor
Despite the hyperbole he attaches to all of his successes, the president is not guaranteed to revive his presidency with Tuesday's vote. The public, apparently, remains skeptical: 55% of the public would be opposed to tax cuts, 33% in favor, according to a poll for CNN. When asked who will benefit the most, Americans say 76% big business, 69% the wealthy, 31% the middle class and only 24% themselves, according to CBS News. Trump's argument that "this is going to cost me a fortune, believe me" is further contradicted by the addition of a 20% deduction for real estate investors: Forbes magazine estimates that it will save 11 million dollars a year to his family.
The absence of bipartisan work weakened the reform, limiting its fiscal impact due to the lack of a supermajority and imposing temporary measures. The Democrats thus hold their campaign argument for 2018: “We will emphasize that the Republicans have granted large permanent tax cuts to large groups and small temporary reductions to middle-class families”, promises the senator from Maryland, Chris Van Hollen.
