Health Care Remains GOP Target in Tax Bill, Which Moody’s Slams as “Fiscal Policy Mistake”

Nonpartisan Economic Analysis: “Costs Outweigh Benefits”

New York Times Reports Final Bill Will Increase Health Care Costs

As Senate and House Republicans negotiate the details of their tax scam, the New York Times reports that they will “likely undo [the] health insurance mandate,” a move that would further sabotage the market and increase health care premiums for Americans across the country. The report comes as the nonpartisan economic analysis from Moody’s calls the GOP tax efforts “a fiscal policy mistake.” More:

• Another fiscal policy mistake is on its way, as the Senate passed tax legislation. We believe the tax code needs to be simplified, but it has to be done correctly, and any tax cuts need to be paid for. The Senate tax plan would add more than $1 trillion to federal deficits over a decade even after economic growth is taken into account, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
• There was political motivation for Republicans to pass the tax legislation, but its costs exceed the benefits. According to the JCT, the tax plan would add about $1.4 trillion to deficits through 2027 before economic growth. It would modestly increase real GDP growth by 0.8% over that period. This is a fairly small boost to economic growth, and the increase in the deficit would put the deficit on an even more unfavorable and unsustainable trajectory.

That’s not all: the Joint Committee on Taxation found that it would cut taxes of the wealthy and increase taxes on families earning less than $75,000, while providing giveaways to the wealthy and large corporations, an analysis that Republicans apparently found so threatening they openly attacked a scorekeeper they voted to empower just two years ago.

Earlier this week, the DSCC announced that it was expanding its buy for “Mailbox,” an ad that features individuals learning how the Republican proposal will increase their taxes in order to benefit the wealthy and well-connected. The ad will run in Arizona, Indiana, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin as part of an ongoing six-figure digital buy.

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