‘They were conned. Again.’: GOP budget resolution omits Donald Trump’s promise to end taxes on tips
Donald Trump supporters celebrated the new GOP budget resolution, claiming it included no taxes on tips. The only problem is that this promise wasn’t actually included in the bill.
During his campaign, Trump made bold promises to end taxes on tips. This promise would benefit many individuals in the culinary field, but it’s also very costly. There’s no such thing as a “free lunch” or “no taxes,” and estimates suggest that no taxes on tips would cost America over $100 billion over the course of a decade. To add to skepticism, Trump never outlined how he planned to implement this policy. Americans were right to be wary of this promise since Trump and the GOP’s interests tend to align with the wealthiest in America and not the working class. Sure enough, when Trump entered office, he focused first on destroying DEI initiatives and targeting the transgender community instead of pursuing campaign promises to lower prices, get rid of taxes on tips, and end the war in Ukraine.
Now, the GOP has introduced a new budget proposal that also noticeably omits Trump’s promise to end taxes on tips.
Does the GOP budget resolution eliminate taxes on tips?
Confusion over the GOP budget resolution’s contents arose because Trump supporters prematurely celebrated its House passage without knowing what it entailed. Republicans posted hundreds of misleading posts on X alleging the bill ended taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits. They repeated the phrase, “Promises made, promises kept,” while raising hysteria over how Democrats “hate” the working class because they voted against the bill.
In reality, the bill does not include ending taxes on tips, overtime, and Social Security benefits. It doesn’t dedicate federal funding or programs to instate the policy, nor does it change tax laws. All it includes is the framework to potentially guide legislators toward achieving the promise. The resolution assigns committees to increase the federal deficit to make room for tax cuts. However, it noticeably does not specify which taxes will be reduced. So, lawmakers have the opportunity to pursue no taxes on tips, but since there’s no mention of tips or overtime anywhere in the bill, it remains to be seen when or if this will even happen.
On social media, users pointed out that Republicans were being lied to. The bill didn’t eliminate taxes on tips or overtime as promised. However, it did lay the framework for Republicans to make significant cuts to Medicaid and Medicare to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest. The bill directs the committee that oversees these health programs to find $800 billion in cost savings while expanding the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which predominantly benefitted the wealthy and failed to trickle down to the working class. As Art Candee stated of working-class Trump supporters, “They were conned. Again.”
The sad thing is, they don’t even know they’ve been conned. They’re already on social media mindlessly thanking Trump and believing misleading claims about the bill. Even those aware that tips and overtime aren’t part of the bill still claim that this is just the first step towards the promise and that they’re content to wait for whatever undisclosed date no taxes on tips will supposedly take effect while ignoring the threats of cutting benefits to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. Trump doesn’t have to keep his promises when his followers are only too happy to be conned.
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