Republicans want to put health care behind them and start focusing on taxes:
“What we ought to focus on is how we cut taxes in such a way that the average person in our country who has not experienced this recovery has more money in their accounts at the end of the week or the end of the month,” said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, another GOP tax writer. “That’s what we should focus on, and I think we’ll have some success there.”
I assume that Tim Scott is talking about folks in the middle. That’s who he says he wants to help. In case you’re curious, here are some statistics about the median household in the United States:
- Median income: $56,515.
- Average federal income tax rate: 2.6 percent.
- Average federal income tax paid: $28 per week.
That’s it. The average household doesn’t pay much income tax. It pays payroll taxes. But Republicans aren’t planning to do anything about payroll taxes. They’re focused solely on income taxes, and I doubt they’re planning to start sending big checks to people who owe no income tax at all. On average, this means that the absolute maximum they can provide to “the average person in our country who has not experienced this recovery” is $28 per week.
I’ll be surprised if they do even that much. But at higher incomes I’ll bet they do plenty.