Earlier this month the president went to West Virginia to talk about the tax cuts. Instead, he spoke about the North American Free Trade Agreement, China, border security, and states he had conquered during the 2016 election. When he eventually remembered the Tax Cuts, he held up a piece of paper and said, 'This was going to be my remarks. It would have taken about two minutes, but” — throwing the piece of paper over his shoulder, he continued, 'to hell with it. That would have been a little boring. A little boring. Right. Now I’m reading off the first paragraph, I said, ‘This is boring.'
Donald Trump seems not the only one who's lost interest.
According to the New York Times, the general public has, too. While online search rates and news coverage of the tax cuts were significant back in December, when the president signed the bill, the interest soon waned. Media outlets began focusing on the introduction of steel and aluminum tariffs and Stromy Daniels instead, and online search trends also focused on those topics.
On Twitter, Donald Trump focused on tax cuts from October of last year up until the end of 2017. From then on, he switched his focus to trade instead. Only on rare occasions did he mention the tax cuts.
Congressional Republicans and Democrats tried to keep the tax cuts in the news
After the bill was signed in December, Congressional Republicans believed that the tax cuts would garner the electorate's support.
For that reason, they wanted to keep highlighting the cuts. Democrats organized protests against the cuts, hoping to find additional support from opponents. But the interest among the public continued to fade. As a result, the Republicans pulled a taxed-themed advertisement in Pensylvania last month. When it comes to the public's opinion on the tax cuts, a New York Times-commissioned survey by Survey Monkey revealed that 48 percent are in favor, while 47 percent oppose the bill.
The survey also indicated a falling support, seeing as back in February, 51 percent approved of the tax cuts.
Tax cuts make the headlines in the run-up to Tax Day 2018
In the run-up to the 2018 Tax Day, the public has shown more interest in the tax cuts. What's more, Donald Trump finally decided to dedicate his time to a discussion on the topic.
On Monday, he hosted a debate on the tax cuts at the Florida Small Businesses Roundtable. To mark Tax Day, he has so far merely retweeted a @WaysandMeansGOP tweet.
Tomorrow is #TaxDay and the good news is this is the last year you will have to file using the old, broken code. Check out Chairman @RepKevinBrady’s op-ed in @USAToday ⬇️ https://t.co/YzN8pXA6AM
— Ways and Means (@WaysandMeansGOP) April 16, 2018
US government once used a Disney cartoon to convince the public that paying taxes is a good thing
Here is something that might bring a smile to your face. A Time article tells the story of how the American government once used a Disney cartoon to entice people to pay their taxes. In fact, the cartoon was designed to persuade people that paying taxes is a privilege rather than a duty.
After the Second World War, the tax take increased significantly but the then Treasury Secretary, Sir Henry Morgenthau, wanted to explain paying taxes to the American people in a more meaningful way. For that reason, he approached Walt Disney and asked him to make a cartoon about it. The cartoon was a huge success.
Walt Disney decided to make more educational films, while the government asked him to make another video in 1943. Perhaps Donald Trump should consider releasing a new cartoon to motivate today's taxpayers.
