How stupid does the Leftist media think the American public is? This stupid:

The Trump administration and key GOP lawmakers are playing defense after early data showed Americans are getting smaller tax refunds in the first filing season under the GOP tax law. The average refund size through Feb. 8 was 8.7 percent smaller than the same period last year, according to IRS figures. Democrats have seized on the numbers, arguing they prove that the 2017 tax-code overhaul by Republicans was a “scam” designed to help the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. Republicans have pushed back, emphasizing that most people are seeing a reduction in their total tax liability and that smaller refunds are preferable because they mean taxpayers were paying a more accurate amount throughout the year via their paychecks.

I guess we can file this one under “Democrats seize,” right? Because, under the noxious, blatantly unconstitutional, diabolical doctrine of “withholding” — dubbed “pay as you go” at the time — and because nobody likes to get hit with a liability on April 15, Americans cheerfully fork over more in income-tax payments than they really owe, receiving the excess back after they file. But what is really highway robbery (you try not paying interest and penalties on any sum the IRS decides you owe them) has come to seem like a Christmas present — hey, look at the size of my refund! Left unexamined is why you overpaid by so much in the first place.

“Critics of the tax cuts are squealing that lower refunds means that taxpayers are paying more in taxes. That argument is pure hogwash,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement Friday, as part of a Q&A document published by his office. “Policymakers ought to know that is intellectually dishonest,” Grassley added. “What’s really happening is they are trying every which way to Sunday to sabotage the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” Republicans hoped the tax law would help them in the 2018 midterm elections, as people started receiving more take-home pay due to the IRS updating withholding guidance to reflect the law’s lower rates and larger standard deduction. But the GOP ended up losing its majority in the House, and polls found that many people never noticed the increase in their paychecks.

You boil the frog slowly — and then he thanks you for it:

Christina Taylor, head of tax operations at Credit Karma Tax, said that for many people, refunds are their “biggest paycheck and they look forward to it.”

But it seems that most really stupid people would prefer Uncle Sam to graciously hand them back some of their very own money, and then still complain when it’s not enough.