Most folks have short memories, especially when it comes to their own party’s partisan politics. Maybe that’s why every single democrat in the House and Senate voted *against* lowering taxes for Americans. Maybe they think voters will forget how they insisted this was only a tax break for the rich, and how the middle class and the poor will be paying the price. One reason they gave for voting against the plan is what it would add to the deficit. Maybe they think that people have forgotten how spending our tax money and running up the deficit was never an issue for them before.

And what about the media? Maybe they think their viewers will forget how they’ve been parroting the same thing, over and over and over. They reported on how the individual tax cuts will end in 2026, but that corporate tax cuts are permanent, so this is obviously a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. Of course, they fail to mention that without any democrat votes this had to be done through reconciliation, which allows for a simple majority vote, but has a 10 year limit on deficit increases. They fail to mention that Republicans would like to make the individual cuts permanent later. And, wouldn’t everyone appreciate lower taxes until 2026, even if they were never extended?

What about the huge tax break to corporations? The media doesn’t mention that there is not a “Mr. Corporation” who is responsible for paying corporate taxes to the government. Maybe they don’t even realize that, since most in the media don’t know anything about business. Maybe they don’t realize that corporate taxes are paid by consumers through higher prices, employees through lower wages, the public through fewer available jobs, and yes, investors in lower returns; although, most of those investors are middle-income Americans who own shares through mutual funds in their retirement accounts. And, after spewing forth all of this misleading information, the media then has the gall to report with glee on polls that say most Americans think it is a bad plan that will only benefit the rich. Gee, I wonder why most Americans think that?

The truth is that most people will actually see less taken out of their paycheck next year, and having that additional money in the hands of the people who earned it will help further spur the economy. I expect that the reduction in the corporate tax rate will allow businesses to expand and increase hiring. We’ve already seen some companies announce the day the bill passed that they will be giving employees bonuses and increasing wages.

It certainly won’t take long to see how all of this plays out. So, since people have such short memories, we need to remind our fellow voters throughout 2018. We should ask them if they are better off since the Republicans took control. We should ask if their pay has gone up, if they know fewer people who are out of work, and if they are feeling good about the economy. Let’s ask them how their 401K is doing. We should show them clips of Chuck and Nancy and their lies about the tax plan. We should show them clips of the anchors and pundits at ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC and what they were repeating. We should forward past articles from the NY Times and Washington Post. We should ask our democrat and independent voting friends and family how they feel about all of that now, and which party and media outlets they should probably trust in the future.