Would the GOP raise taxes... on the middle class?

Republicans want to cut taxes, but won't say how they'll pay for the lost revenue. Democrats have numbers to show that the middle class will be forced to pony up

Rep. Paul Ryan
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

House Republicans, led by budget chief Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), say their budget will give big tax breaks to virtually every taxpayer, reducing the top income bracket to 25 percent, from 35 percent, and flattening the other brackets to 10 percent. But that would reduce federal revenue by $4.5 trillion over 10 years, and the only realistic way to make that up, according to a new analysis from Senate Democrats, is to effectively raise taxes on the middle class by eliminating "the biggest middle-class tax benefits — like the mortgage interest deduction, and the tax exclusion on employer health benefits," says Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo. According to the Democrats' study, signed off on by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, couples earning $100,000 to $200,000 a year would see their taxes jump by $2,681 a year, those earning $50,000 to $100,000 would pay an extra $1,358, while couples earning $1 million or more would get a hefty $286,543 tax break. "Ryan seems to want to have his cake and eat it, too, and this report shows that you can't," says Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). "If you want to cut taxes on the rich and not raise the deficit, you're going to have to basically clobber the middle class." Would the GOP's tax plan really "soak the middle class"?

Republicans won't raise taxes: There is "something wrong with this analysis," says Paul Waldman at The American Prospect. Republicans will "never, never, never" propose raising taxes on the middle class. If you think Republicans will actually push to "get rid of the mortgage interest deduction, the biggest middle-class entitlement the government hands out, you're nuts." That still leaves us with "big tax cuts at the top end that balloon the deficit," but that only bothers Republicans when Democrats are in the White House.

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