Majority Leader McConnell agrees: Kevin Cramer’s tax reform bill is bad for the middle class

If he really wanted to cut taxes for the middle class, he’d just do that.

While Kevin Cramer keeps saying that the middle class will be the beneficiaries of his tax reform bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-K.Y.) reiterated what most neutral observers have been saying about the bill: he “misspoke” when he said that nobody in the middle class would see their taxes raised. Congressional candidate Ben Hanson released the following statement:

“If Cramer and his GOP colleagues really wanted to cut taxes for the middle class, they would just cut taxes for the middle class. It’s not too much to ask our lone congressman to fight for a bill that puts more money in the pockets of working families. Cramer’s bill creates winners and losers, and the workers who live off the paychecks they earn are going to lose if this bill is enacted.

“If his bill’s really as great as he claims it is, Cramer would be out there talking directly to North Dakotans about it. If his bill weren’t bad for the middle class and rural communities, Cramer would be holding town halls about it. But he’s not, because he doesn’t want to explain why middle class tax increases are included in his bill.”

Under Kevin Cramer’s Tax Plan:

• Individuals earning between $10,000 and $20,000 will see an average income tax increase of $111 per year by 2025. (Source, at page 6.)
• Individuals earning between $20,000 and $30,000 will see an average income tax increase of $1,235 per year by 2025. (Id.)
• Individuals earning between $30,000 and $40,000 will see an average income tax increase of $699 per year by 2025. (Id.)
• “Households with annual incomes over $1 million would see their after-tax incomes increase by 3.2 percent, 16 times the percentage increase for any income group in the bottom half of the income distribution.” (Source)
• “A married couple with one child claiming the standard deduction would get no tax cut if they earn $24,850 or less a year.” (Source)
• “A married couple with one child, annual income of $60,000, and $20,000 in claimed itemized deductions would get a net tax increase of $575.” (Id.)