John,

Through an onslaught of TV ads this fall, Congressional Republicans and their two super PACs tried to make this election a referendum on false claims about increased taxes on the middle class and increased funding for the IRS—and they lost.

While the congressional election results are not final, it is clear from preliminary results that voters did not buy their leading attack against Democrats, and there is no mandate for them to try to push through a renewal of the Trump-GOP tax cuts or repeal funding for tax enforcement to catch wealthy and corporate tax cheats.

Republicans’ "red wave" leaned on a $148 million bet that voters would reject tax fairness in favor of trickle-down tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. Take a look at this chart from the Washington Post, showing how Republicans spent their money this election, issue by issue:

Republicans' biggest attacks this election cycle were lies about the 15% corporate minimum tax and IRS enforcement funding in the Inflation Reduction Act, historic legislation that passed in August. They claimed that Democrats were "raising taxes on the middle-class" and sending "87,000 IRS agents" after you.

Voters didn't buy it.

The tax reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act were wildly popular, especially among Independents.

The same is true for Democrats' plan for a Billionaire Minimum Income Tax—with 74% support among likely voters, including 55% of Republicans.[1]

Voters know that tax cuts passed by Republicans largely go to the wealthy and corporations and don’t benefit working people. But Republicans can't let trickle-down go. In fact, their key promise if they regain power in Congress is to extend the Trump-GOP tax cuts, many of which are set to expire in 2025.[2]

Elected officials from both parties should take note: Americans for Tax Fairness pre-election polling shows the public’s support for Reagan-style trickle-down economics is over. Instead, they want a tax system that requires the rich and corporations to pay their fair share.

Republicans have NO mandate to continue their plan to extend the Trump-GOP tax cuts, or to try and claw back Democrats' tax agenda.

In the end, this election IS a clear referendum on taxes—it's just not the one Republicans wanted.

Thank you for being by our side as, together, we fight to unrig our tax system and economy.

Frank Clemente
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness

[1] "Polling: Taxes in the Inflation Reduction Act," Americans for Tax Fairness
[2] "GOP wants to push to extend Trump tax cuts after midterm elections," Washington Post, Oct. 17, 2022