One would think a survey showing most Americans believe something that is not true would spur at least some amount of concern from our news media. Maybe a scary-sounding headline or even a few journalist tweets reading to the effect of “this is not good.”
But there has been no real alarm or even shock in the press following the publication of an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey showing only 17% of Americans believe their taxes will be lower following the successful passage of the GOP tax reform bill.
To be clear, two-thirds of taxpayers got a break because of the tax bill, according to the Wall Street Journal. Most Americans got a tax cut. They just do not think they did.
The NBC/WSJ survey, which was conducted from March 23-27 and surveyed 1,000 adults, asked respondents specifically: “Now that President Trump’s tax plan has become law, do you believe that you and your family will pay more in taxes, pay less in taxes, about the same, or don’t you know enough to say one way or another?”
Twenty-eight percent of respondents say they believe they will “pay more,” while only 17% think they will “pay less.” Twenty-seven percent say they believe they will “pay about the same” and 28% say they “don’t know enough.” These are some stunning results, considering they do not comport with reality.
It’s almost as if the media’s efforts to vilify tax reform created a false perception that it has not benefited taxpayers.
The combined effort of the news media and progressives to demonize the tax bill almost certainly accounts for why it is unpopular. The effort ranged from false reports that the bill was a tax hike to the use of incomplete data to report inaccurately that tax refunds were smaller this year. Pew Research survey found last month that the tax cuts have only a 36% approval rating, while a much larger 49% disapprove.
Don’t take my word for it. Vox editor Matt Yglesias said the quiet part out loud on Tuesday.
“Nobody likes to give themselves credit for this kind of messaging success, but progressive groups did a really good job of convincing people that Trump raised their taxes when the facts say a clear majority got a tax cut,” Yglesias tweeted, cheering successful efforts to deceive the public.
In fairness, his website does a lot of that on many issues, not just tax reform.
