How will Republicans pay for $5 trillion in tax cuts for corporations and the rich?
I don't know and neither do they, but Trump has an idea that's not exactly new: repeal Obamacare.
“Wouldn’t it be great to Repeal the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate in ObamaCare and use those savings for further Tax Cuts for the Middle Class. The House and Senate should consider ASAP as the process of final approval moves along.”
Yes, it would be great. It would be great because it would ensure that tax cuts and Obamacare repeal fail at the same time. Again.
Repealing the individual mandate would save the government money, but for all the wrong reasons. It could save the government up to $400 billion, but that's because up to 15 million people would lose their coverage according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Republicans responsible for writing their tax cut bill may not know how to pay for it, but they know Trump's ideas are bad ideas.
“What I don’t want to do is to add things that could again kill tax reform like health care died over there,” House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady said Tuesday on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, when asked about the idea. “So I say focus on jobs and growth and leapfrogging America to the lead pack worldwide.”
This idea that America isn't already in the "lead pack" is bizarre.
The United States is the third largest economy behind China and the European Union, but we also have 1 billion fewer citizens than the former and 400 million fewer than the latter. America is still the richest country in the world, but also the most unequal. The GOP's tax cut bill will only make it worse.
Even if the GOP followed Trump off the cliff again, the $400 billion they could save by partially repealing Obamacare wouldn't even begin to cover the cost of their tax cuts. The $5 trillion number they're chasing is simply too absurd.
Whatever they reveal tomorrow, there will be a huge fiscal hole in it.