A Gallup poll released March 7 found that 39 percent of Americans approve of the tax law -- up 6 percentage points since January -- but 49 percent still disapprove.
Adam Jentleson, who served as deputy chief of staff for the former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, predicted there’s “very little chance” that nine Democrats would back a bill centered on making the individual tax changes permanent.
“It is a cheap political exercise and they shouldn’t lend it any more credence than it deserves,” he said.
Stock Buybacks
A round two isn’t expected to include any technical fixes to errors or oversights in last year’s law, which will need more time, according to the tax analyst who asked not to be named to discuss plans that have not been made public.
Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee, has criticized Republicans for passing the bill so hastily, and said his party wants fundamental changes to the law.
Republicans have said “the typical middle person is going to get a $4,000 tax cut -- as of now there is no evidence of that,” Wyden said. What was passed, he said, amounted to "a stock buyback promotion act.”
Last month, Wyden highlighted a report on the Senate floor that showed corporate stock buybacks have reached more than $200 billion since the passage of the tax overhaul-- and were coming in at a rate 30 times greater than worker bonuses.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.