Washington, D.C. — Seth Hanlon, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement today after the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, or JCT, released its macroeconomic analysis of the U.S. Senate GOP tax bill.
The nonpartisan, professional staff of the JCT has found what credible, unbiased analysts always find: Tax cuts do not pay for themselves.
With enormous tax cuts tilted to the wealthy and large corporations, the Senate bill would increase deficits by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, even after accounting for macroeconomic effects. The JCT’s estimate of $1 trillion does not account for the budget gimmicks in the bill or the additional interest on the debt,* so the real cost could be much higher.
The JCT score makes it even more significant that this morning, the Secretary of the Treasury was caught in a massive lie about the Treasury’s analysis of the GOP tax plan. Two weeks ago, Secretary Steven Mnuchin publicly asserted that the Treasury was completing an analysis showing that the tax plan would pay for itself. A whistleblower revealed today that analysis does not exist. The secretary lied.
It is clear as day: This bill massively increases deficits. Any self-styled deficit hawk who votes for this bill is committing an historic act of hypocrisy. And everyone knows that when deficits increase as a result of this bill, conservatives’ knives will come out for Medicare, Medicaid, education, and Social Security.
*The JCT analysis incorporates about $50 billion in additional interest costs from changes in interest rates, but it does not include the even more substantial interest costs resulting from the additional debt itself.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Allison Preiss at [email protected] or 202.478.6331.