The expected passage of president Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan this week offers a sharp contrast to president Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Tax Policy Center compared each bill’s effects on Americans’ after-tax income, breaking out the results by income level:
The Biden plan provides disproportionate benefits to the poorest Americans, thanks to its temporary expansion of child tax credits and targeted subsidies to the working class; the Trump tax cuts delivered their benefits largely to Americans in the top 20% of earners. 1
To coin a phrase, pay attention to what politicians do, not what they say.