Many in the media seem to be mystified that so many Americans have been under the impression that the Trump tax cuts hurt them despite the fact that more people got to keep more of their own money. From what could this confusion have possibly stemmed?
Thread.
Can’t imagine why people didn’t get an accurate perception of the consequences of the tax bill… https://t.co/xpZGVYPXYL
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) April 15, 2019
Maybe Federalist senior editor David Harsanyi can make some sense of how we got here:
"GOP tax bill will kill 10,000 people a year, says economist Larry Summers"https://t.co/K9ZXYWMUjg
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
Pelosi: GOP tax proposal 'the worst bill in the history' of Congresshttps://t.co/INOTm0Hyn8
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
ha. Bruce Bartlett said the tax cuts were "akin to rape"!
https://t.co/xX68AKaqmN— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
Kurt Eichenwald tweeted: https://t.co/KEhW64zc47
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
"Meet some victims of the Trump tax plan"https://t.co/B6DxpvdFfD
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
"It's not enough to give money to rich people. Apparently, Republicans want to kick the poor and middle class in the face, too," allegedly serious econ columnist at Wapo https://t.co/fIqUJ6ZaVZ
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
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Of course, the idea that keeping your own money is tantamount to "giving" something to someone is silly. But the idea that the middle class were getting shaken down was just dishonest.
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
There are two reasons that most Americans don't know they got tax cuts. 1 – mainstream media misled its audience, as usual.
Look at this fictional piece by David Leonhardt:https://t.co/ZNyS7ujNUM
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
CNN was ALL over it.
"Trump's tax cuts are a bust"https://t.co/AnhhRP7y3X
"The ominous absurdity of Trump's tax cuts"https://t.co/cdDAC3k0Oe
"5 false or misleading things Trump said in his tax speech" https://t.co/l0HTkMkjZz
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
As is the habit of "factcheckers," msot of the checks in that last piece are, at the very least, debatable. Some are just wrong.
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
"Get ready for an unhappy tax surprise"
Rick Newman @ Yahoo often wrote about the tax cuts as if the end of days was here. https://t.co/5x5sqkD4OS
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
"The Republican tax cut is a big, fat failure" https://t.co/0dDmzIBwZG
"No, the Media Has Not Been Unfair to the GOP Tax Bill"https://t.co/iW35mF5zj9
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
None of this is even getting into the MSM's straight news coverage, which was constantly painting the bill as a tax cut only for the wealthy.
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
Those narratives aren’t gonna craft themselves!
Anyway, I pray all of you survive today!
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) April 15, 2019
Godspeed, everybody.
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