Americans have got the Republican tax plan’s number. Just 35 percent of people polled by CBS News approve of the legislation, and 53 percent say they would be “disappointed” or “angry” if it became law. And no wonder. Just 31 percent of people say the plan will help middle-class Americans, while 76 percent say it will help large corporations and 69 percent say it will help wealthy Americans.
Republican respondents weren’t exactly what you’d call excited about the plan—in fact, “excited” was an option on the poll and just one in five Republicans used it to describe their feelings about passage. But where Republicans sharply depart from other respondents, and reality, in their view of the tax plan is in how they anticipate it affecting the economy:
Republican optimism about the plan's effect on the economy may be because Republicans agree with the idea that large corporations will use the money they save from tax cuts to create jobs. Six in 10 Republicans think this will happen. Just over a quarter of Americans overall agree.
These Republicans might want to check in with all the corporations that have said they won't be using the windfall to create jobs, and instead will be directing it to stock buybacks. But rank-and-file Republicans probably need something to hold onto to keep believing in their party, and buying into the idea that they’ll get direct benefits from this tax bill may be too much even for many of the party faithful—in fact, only a third of Republicans believe their own taxes will go down.
Corporations tell us they won’t use this tax break to create jobs. Tons of recent history tells us this tax break for corporations and the wealthy won’t create jobs. But Republican voters have to find a way to believe in Republican leaders, and so that’s it. They believe.
But Americans overall? They hate this stinker of a bill.