Public Doesn't Think Corporations And Rich Need Tax Cuts

Donald Trump and the Republican Congress are promising tax cuts, and they claim those cuts would help the middle class. The problem is that is not who would get those cuts under the plans they are discussing. They want to give most (or all) of those tax cuts to the wealthy and the corporations.

That would be a political mistake. The public thinks corporations and upper income people don't pay enough in taxes -- not too much. The public thinks that lower income and middle income people and small businesses are the entities that need the tax cuts (see chart above).

Trump, and his GOP cohorts, have tried to disguise their tax cuts for corporations as a job creation measure -- but cutting taxes for corporations does NOT create jobs. It just fattens the bank accounts of those corporations (and the management and owners).

The truth is that taxes don't affect job creation at all. Corporations hire the number of workers they need to deliver a good product in a timely fashion to their customers. If they hire less than they need, then they lose customers to businesses that are better at customer satisfaction. If they hire more workers than they need, then they just needlessly into their own profits. And that is true regardless of what the top tax rate is.

There is only one thing that will cause a corporation (or any business) to hire more workers -- if the demand for their goods/services increases and they need more workers to meet that demand adequately. Cutting taxes for the wealthy or corporations does not increase demand.

But if the tax cuts were for the lower income, middle income, and small business people, it would increase demand. That's because they would then have more money to spend, and they make up the huge bulk of the population. If job creation was really the reason for tax cuts, then these are the groups who should receive that tax cut -- not the wealthy or corporations.

The chart above was made with information in a recent Politico / Morning Consult Poll -- done between August 31st and September 3rd of a random national sample of 1,993 registered voters, with a 2 point margin of error.