美国国家公共电台 NPR A Promise Of $1,200 Not Enough To Buy Wide Support For Republican Tax Plan

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Republicans say their tax legislation will be great for the middle class. A great big beautiful Christmas present for the American people - that's what President Trump¹ is saying. So why, then, is it so unpopular? Polls are showing that between 25 and 33 percent of the country approves of the plan, meaning even some of those who would get a tax break are not even won over. Here's NPR's Chris Arnold.

CHRIS ARNOLD, BYLINE²: In pitching their tax plan to the country, Republicans say it would save the typical middle-class American family between $1,200 and $1,400 dollars. But it seems that that may not be enough to buy widespread support for this plan because, first, not everybody gets that and there's other unpopular stuff in these bills.

DAVE LEWANDOWSKI: My name is Dave Lewandowski. I live in Grand Rapids, Mich., so it's definitely the cold time of the year here, as it is in the East Coast.

ARNOLD: Lewandowski's married, three kids. He works for a company selling vitamins and water filters and other health products. The family's household income is about $90,000 dollars.

LEWANDOWSKI: So under the House plan, it looks like I'll save around $600 and under the Senate plan, closer to 1,800 when comparing the two.

ARNOLD: Lewandowski says he'd definitely be happy to get a tax cut.

LEWANDOWSKI: You know, we're receiving a bit of a benefit at a time where it really helps. Right? So we're trying to pay down some debt. We're looking forward to taking a vacation next year. This is a welcome benefit for me and my family.

ARNOLD: Still, when it comes to the design of the overall tax plan itself, he's...

LEWANDOWSKI: Conflicted.

ARNOLD: Lewandowski says he votes for Republicans more often than Democrats³, so it's not politics. But he says, for one thing, he's not sure the balance is right with this huge tax cut for corporations.

LEWANDOWSKI: You know, it's the idea of something being spread a mile wide and an inch deep for the middle class. Right? So many people in the middle class will receive a benefit, but that benefit is going to be muted or small, whereas the bulk of the benefit is going to be felt by, you know, corporations and the wealthy.

ARNOLD: According to nonpartisan numbers from Congress's own Joint⁴ Committee on Taxation⁵, the wealthy and corporations do get a much bigger share of the benefits from the tax bills. And Lewandowski also doesn't like that people in other states will pay more, people like Ani McHugh. She's a high school English teacher in Delran, N.J.

ANI MCHUGH: Well, New Jersey⁶ has always been, you know, a high-tax state.

ARNOLD: And the Republican tax plans don't allow people to deduct⁷ state and local income taxes, so that can make a big difference for people in states with higher taxes, like California and New York and New Jersey.

MCHUGH: This kind of tax plan that essentially⁸ punishes taxpayers⁹ who are already paying more in taxes - I don't see how that's a fair approach or a reasonable approach.

ARNOLD: McHugh's married. Her husband's a police officer in the same town where they live. They have two kids. And she's checked with her tax guy, and the best that she can figure, depending on the House or the Senate version...

MCHUGH: We're going to end up paying between $3,000 and $5,000 more.

ARNOLD: Which the couple, of course, is not happy about.

MCHUGH: My husband and I are both angry. It's - for, I'm assuming, lots of people like us, this is not going to be a tax cut by any means. It's not going to be a Christmas gift that President Trump said it was going to be.

ARNOLD: McHugh says, adding insult to injury - as a teacher, she buys books and school supplies for her students. And under at least the House tax plan, she would not be allowed to write those off her taxes anymore.

MCHUGH: It's just hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that corporations are getting huge tax cuts and the wealthy get tax breaks. And I'm a teacher, and I'm spending my own money on things that will help me teach and things that will help my students learn. And I can't write that off.

ARNOLD: Multiple polls show that most Americans do not want a tax cut for the rich. So that may be the biggest reason that these Republican tax bills are so unpopular.

Chris Arnold NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF BEAUTIFUL KILLING MACHINE'S "RIGHT IS")

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 deduct   

vt.扣除，减去

参考例句：

• You can deduct the twenty - five cents out of my allowance.你可在我的零用钱里扣去二角五分钱。
• On condition of your signing this contract,I will deduct a percentage.如果你在这份合同上签字，我就会给你减免一个百分比。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。