Ever since the Reagan days, all serious GOP presidential candidates have been required to propose a large tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthy. The stated purpose of the program is to encourage investment, which improves productivity and ultimately results in higher wages for workers. In reality, this doesn’t happen; the real purpose of the tax cut is to provide a payoff for the GOP donor class, which then uses the proceeds to finance the deficit in what I call “right-wing recycling”.
To date, however, the 2024 candidates have said very little about taxes. The focus of the campaign has been more on electability, the sins of the establishment, and wokeness. Will that continue?
Yes, because the reactionary base is far more interested in wokeness than tax cuts, but I think taxes will start entering the arena fairly soon. In particular, if DeSantis continues to struggle, he’s going to need something pretty dramatic to win back the donor class, and a tax cut is the logical way to do it.