Republican Tax Plan Would Make The Rich Richer, Raise Taxes On The Middle Class: Report

In Not-So-Shocking News, Republicans Want To Give The Rich A Tax Break

We don't want to turn your hair white with shock first thing in the morning, but it appears Republican lawmakers are pushing a tax plan that could make the rich richer and ask the middle class to pay more.

That's according to the congressional Joint Economic Committee's new report, which crunches the numbers on the tax proposal favored by House Republicans and argues that it would amount to a massive tax cut for the well-off and a four-figure tax hike for more modest earners. The committee is chaired by Democratic Senator Bob Casey.

As explained in The Washington Post, the GOP plan would in fact provide an initial tax cut to every American, regardless of income. But assuming the plan eliminates certain major deductions in the tax code -- like state and local taxes, charitable donations and employer-provided health insurance -- a lot of Americans would end up paying more than they are now.

Specifically, anyone who earns less than $200,000 a year would see their taxes go up by at least $1,000, and in some cases as much as $4,600, according to the JEC. Meanwhile, people who earn a million dollars or more would get a tax cut of between $286,000 and $331,000 a year.

The plan doesn't exactly sync up with the popular demand for higher taxes on the very wealthy -- an idea that's repeatedly polled well in the past few months, as President Obama, Warren Buffett and others have called upon the country's millionaires to assume a greater tax burden.

It's also unclear what if any positive effect lowering taxes on the rich would have on the economy. Historically, there's been little correlation between low taxes for the wealthy and high economic growth -- in fact, tax breaks for the country's highest earners have been shown to deprive the U.S. Treasury of revenue at a time when the economy is still struggling to gain momentum.

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