President Trump squandered his political capital by using the first two years of his presidency to pass a still unpopular tax cut. That doesn't make it OK for Democrats to lie about it in an effort to keep scamming the American people.

The lie is that taxes are going up on most middle class people. The scam is that bigger "tax refunds" just means the government is holding more of your money without paying you for it.

Now that it’s tax return season, some reports suggest that filers are surprised they’re receiving less of a “refund” than they had in the past. The Democratic National Committee took advantage of what it apparently sees as a political opportunity, sending out an email Wednesday saying that “taxpayers are receiving tax refunds that are less than expected, or even having to pay more in taxes.”

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is running for president, similarly said in a tweet last week that “The average tax refund is down about $170 compared to last year. Let’s call the President’s tax cut what it is: a middle-class tax hike to line the pockets of already wealthy corporations and the 1%.”

This is deception on an evil level.

The DNC email itself included a link to a Washington Post article that explained why 2019 refunds would be less than in previous years, but the DNC must have expected no one to read it.

The Post article from Feb. 10 buries the important information 12 paragraphs in, but nonetheless, it says, “Many Americans may confuse their meager refunds as a sign that they paid more in taxes as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Generally, that is not true.”

The new law cut federal income taxes for the vast majority of Americans, resulting in bigger paychecks from their employers. The IRS also tried balancing out the way it collects taxes so that, ideally, Americans weren’t overpaying and therefore wouldn’t receive a large refund.

This gets into the ridiculous “withholding” ripoff that Democrats are pretending is actually some kind of free gift to people.

Our current joke tax system, which Trump promised to simplify, though his law doesn’t really do that, is set up so that the federal government takes more of your money every year than you owe, before giving it back as a “refund.”

Regular people find some joy each year in getting that check back from the IRS, the same way you might get a rush from finding $20 in a coat you pulled out of storage for the winter. But, why should it be taken for granted that every year, you give the government a nice little loan that they pay back with no interest?

And it’s only paid back after you’ve gone through the miserable process of filing your taxes.

This would be like ordering a shirt, receiving a dress and then the store clerk offering you a refund only after a year has passed and you’ve filled out a 30-minute survey.

Why would anyone jump for joy at this arrangement? And then willingly engage in it year after year?

Right now the government says you have little choice but the new tax law was a step in the right direction away from the withholding con.

Democrats, meanwhile, would rather keep more of your money and act like it’s a gift when they return it.