December 19, 2017

Most Americans Don’t Believe Trump’s Biggest Lie About the Tax Plan

During normal presidencies, this might be problematic.

Dan Anderson/ZUMA

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Less than two weeks before the end of the year, President Donald Trump is set to finally score the first major legislative victory of his presidency, with both the House and Senate planning to pass the Republican tax reform bill on Tuesday. But the long-awaited win comes with a downside for the president: it’s one of the most unpopular bills in recent memory and a majority of the public doesn’t believe Trump’s claims about the bill.

According to a new CNN poll released Tuesday, 55 percent of Americans oppose the bill. Despite the president’s repeated claims that he will be a “big loser” under the bill, 63 percent of Americans believe that the plan will indeed benefit Trump and his wealthy family—as numerous non-partisan analyses have also concluded. 

“We will ensure that the benefits are focused on the middle class, the working men and women, not the highest income earners,” Trump told a crowd in Indianapolis in September. He added: “I’m doing the right thing—and it’s not good for me, believe me.”

On Saturday, he described the bill as a “Christmas gift” for the middle class. 

Despite the tanking support, Congress is set to pass the plan today, with Trump expected to sign it as early as Wednesday.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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