Republicans are tripping over themselves trying to defend the Trump tax bills that raise taxes on middle class and poor families to fund tax cuts for the rich.  Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (pictured here) admitted to Fox News the Trump proposals would be a “huge boon for the financial services industry”  Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (pictured here) admitted to Fox News the Trump proposals would be a “huge boon for the financial services industry” moments after lying about how ending the state and local tax deduction would raise taxes on millions of middle class Americans.

This exchange followed Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch yesterday flat-out admitting that putting more money in peoples’ paychecks was “not what we’re trying to do.”

“Just like with healthcare, Republicans are trying to sell their tax plans by lying to the millions of middle class Americans who their policy would hurt – all so that the rich and big business can gain new tax cuts,” said American Bridge spokesperson Andrew Bates. “But polls show that the public isn’t buying the Administration’s lies. Republicans who support these plans that hike taxes on middle class families and hardworking Americans will be held accountable by their constituents.”

The independent Tax Policy Center estimates that the tax plan passed by House republicans yesterday would raise taxes on 36 million middle class Americans. At the same time, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found yesterdaythat the Senate Republican tax plan would on average increase taxes for Americans earning less than $75,000 a year.

WATCH:

BILL HEMMER: But this is a Republican majority in the House, and in the Senate, in the White House. And you’re admitting that for some Americans they will pay more in taxes. Is this what the American people have waited a generation for?

STEVE MNUCHIN: Again, just to be clear, what we’re doing is getting rid of the state and local tax deduction, which is a loophole for high-tax states. That’s the reason why New York, California and others have taxes as high as they are – because the federal government is subsidizing those taxes.  And for most Americans, the vast number of Americans that don’t have high-tax states, it’s not fair that they’re subsidizing a few states.

So, again, the peoples’ taxes who are going to go up are the rich people in high-tax states.

But again, there’s a lot of benefit to the New York economy of lowering the corporate rate to 20%.  That’s a huge boon for the financial services industry. They can hire more people, they can pay more people, they can create more jobs; they can be competitive.