In the new GOP platform for the midterm elections, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) has laid out the Republican party’s response to Democrats’ rallying cry to tax the rich: slash funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and tax the poor.
“All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount,” reads Scott’s 11 point plan. “Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.”
While it’s true that about half of American households typically don’t pay income taxes, this is because their incomes aren’t high enough to pass the thresholdTax credits are sometimes available for households with lower incomes. Payroll taxes are still due for many low-income people.
A new tax on half of income earners might have devastating effects on people who are most in desperate need of financial assistance, especially in times of economic hardship. How to close the wealth gapThe U.S. is growing rapidly. This measure would likely be very unpopular. has already garnered criticismTop Democrats have pointed out that Republicans want more taxes for over half the Americans.
Scott denied on Fox News that his plan would implement new income taxes on over half of the country, despite the fact that this proposal is clearly outlined in his “Plan to Rescue America.” Other Republicans defended the 11-point plan. “He’s at least raising important questions over, ‘Should every American have some stake in the country?’” said former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Scott is pledging to increase taxes for lower-income families but he is also trying to give the rich more tax avoidance opportunities. If Republicans retake power, the plan reads, “We will immediately cut the IRS funding and workforce by 50 percent.”
This would have a significant impact on tax enforcement in the United States. Republicans have already gutted the IRSOver the years, the agency has been so underfunded that it’s warned that this year’s tax season will be challenging because it is still catching up with last year’s tax filings.
As a result, the IRS hasn’t had the resources for years to go after wealthy tax dodgers, who can use sophisticated methods of tax dodging that are too complex for the agency to be able to track. Instead, the IRS audits disproportionately low-income people who are eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, due to insufficient resources and a lack of workforce. Meanwhile, the nation’s wealthiest people get away with paying little to noThey can continue to accumulate unfathomable wealth by not paying federal income taxes.
The plan doesn’t really justify removing the IRS. Republicans, however, often advocate for less severe regulations for corporations and the wealthy while advocating more regulations for the poor. Democrats have proposed increasing IRS funds. But Republicans shot down a plan to increase the agency’s funding in negotiations for last year’s infrastructure bill, as corporations lobbied hard against the proposal.
If implemented, the GOP’s plan would raise taxes on the poor while providing even more tax loopholes for the rich. It’s ironic that the GOP is arguing that this plan would ensure everyone in the U.S. has “skin in the game” in order to benefit from public services or contribute to society, when it is largely the wealthyPeople who are eligible for tax breaks, even though they don’t need the extra funds to live,
Scott’s plan also includes numerous extremist proposals that could actively harm the government and the public. The plan contains attacks against transgender people and leftists, schools, people with color, and many other issues. As part of the political right wing’s Fascist attacks on educationThe plan would see the Department of Education shut down completely. It would also ban any increases in the debt ceiling. Republicans have supported such limits to show their fiscal responsibility, despite knowing that raising the debt ceiling would be disastrous.
