There is a certain kind of boldness that goes beyond regular political spin and enters the territory of a guy wearing a fake mustache to his own surprise party. As USA Journal reported, every single Democrat in Congress voted against the Working Families Tax Cuts last year. Not most. Not a slim majority. Every last one of them. And now a growing number of those same Democrats are running ads and issuing press releases claiming credit for the very legislation they tried to torpedo.
Let us quickly review what the bill actually did. No tax on tips. No tax on overtime. No tax on Social Security. A doubled child tax credit. A $1,000 "Trump Account" for every newborn citizen. And the prevention of what would have been, according to the numbers, a $5 trillion tax hike, which would have been the largest in American history. Ninety seven percent of tax filers got a cut, with working class families under $100,000 keeping thousands more of their own money. Eighty two billion dollars went back to taxpayers, and 96% of the families who benefited earn under $200,000.
Democrats called all of this "abominable" and demanded its "wholesale repeal." That was the position. That was the vote. It is on the record.
So what happened next? Michigan Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet ran taxpayer funded television ads claiming she "passed the Working Families Tax Credit." She voted against it. Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego introduced a bill to make Trump Accounts permanent but rebranded them "American Dream Accounts," presumably because the original name gave him hives. He also voted against creating them. Nevada's entire Democratic congressional delegation wrote a letter demanding successful implementation of the no tax on tips provision. They all voted no on it. In Missouri and Kansas, Democratic representatives put out a joint press release celebrating World Cup security funding they voted against, from a Department of Homeland Security they repeatedly voted to shut down.
That last one is like setting a building on fire and then showing up at the ribbon cutting for the rebuilt version holding oversized scissors.
Speaker Johnson summed it up: "Democrats are attempting to mislead the American people and claim credit for something they opposed vehemently. Republicans will not let the American people forget that if Democrats had it their way, every taxpayer would have faced the largest tax increase in American history."
Twenty five million workers paid no tax on their overtime. Every one of those outcomes happened without a single Democratic vote. The bill passed entirely on Republican support while Democrats stood on the floor calling it a disaster.
Now those same Democrats want a participation trophy for a game they refused to play. Politics has always involved a certain amount of creative storytelling, but claiming credit for legislation you called abominable is less creative storytelling and more just hoping nobody checks the Congressional Record. Unfortunately for them, people did.
Read more conservative news commentary at: USA Journal News
