The optimism Republicans expected voters to feel from the huge Trump tax cut package has quickly turned sour.
In the latest Gallup poll, 48% of respondents said they disapprove of the tax cuts; only 39% approve.
Experts are baffled, given that the cuts have increased the take home pay for approximately two-thirds of workers.
There are even talks that Republicans in Washington are so discouraged by the tax law’s sinking popularity that they are considering another round of tax cuts to drive home the point before midterm election campaigns get under way.
Yahoo! Finance conducted an online poll to try to figure out why Americans are nonplussed by the Republican tax cuts.
Three reasons were identified by respondents:
- People believe the tax cuts favor the wealthy over the middle and working class.
- The public is leery that tax cuts for businesses are permanent while tax cuts for individuals are temporary.
- Finally, people believe it’s careless to finance the tax cuts with debt that subsequent generations of workers will have to be responsible for.
Respondents to the poll also expressed concerned over the $1.8 trillion in new debt that the U.S. government will have to issue over the next decade to cover the lost federal revenue.
Many high profile companies have given employees one time bonuses relating to the tax cuts that President Trump signed into law.
Nevertheless, Automatic Data Processing (ADP), the payroll and human resources company, has chosen a more frank route.
Shareholders gain
The CEO of the firm recently told employees that investors, not workers, will see most of the benefits of tax cuts, reported the Associated Press.
“You should expect that most of that benefit that we got as a result of tax reform, I think flows through to our investors,” CEO Carlos Rodriguez said.
“I recognize that’s not a popular answer and not everybody’s going to like that answer, but I think that is really kind of where ADP is today.”
This information leaked from an internal company meeting held in March. On April 11, ADP raised its dividend by 10%, an increase in return for shareholders.
Rodriguez, the CEO, owns about 125,000 shares of company stock worth nearly $15 million, according to S&P Capital IQ.
At least 10 other company officials also own more than 25,000 shares in the company. They too are among the investors who will benefit when the stock price rises.
