It would be one thing if Rubio’s plan represented an extreme version of Republican tax policy. But at this point, multi-trillion-dollar tax cuts, combined with huge savings for the wealthy, and unprecedented spending cuts that fall heavily on the poor now appear to be a mandatory component of every Republican budget plan.

Rubio’s plan would cut taxes by $162,000 for the top 1 percent and $932,000 for the top 0.1 percent, while reducing overall revenue by almost $7 trillion. Compare that to plans of his fellow candidates and GOP luminaries:

Jeb Bush’s plan : $ 167,000 cut for the top 1 percent; $808,000 cut for the top 0.1 percent; $6.8 trillion cut to overall revenue over ten years

Donald Trump’s plan : $275,000 cut for the top 1 percent, $1.3 million cut for the top 0.1 percent, $9.5 trillion cut to overall revenue

Mitt Romney’s 2012 plan : $150,000 cut for the top 1 percent, $725,000 cut for the top 0.1 percent, $5 trillion cut to overall revenue over ten years

Paul Ryan’s 2014 plan : $227,000 cut for the top 1 percent, $1.2 million cut for the top 0.1 percent, $5.7 trillion cut to overall revenue

It’s time to dispel the fiction that mainstream Republicans don’t know what they’re doing when it comes to tax policy. They know exactly what they’re doing. Each plan cuts top-percentile income by at least $150,000. Each plan cuts 0.1 percentile by at least $725,000. Each plan reduces overall revenue by at least $5 trillion. The playbook couldn’t be clearer.

How Much Each GOP Plan Would Cut Taxes for the Top

1 Percent of Earners

How Much Each GOP Plan Would Cut Taxes for the Top

0.1 Percent of Earners

TPC Data

To be fair, Bernie Sanders’ would raise taxes by an amount that is similarly unprecedented. Although TPC has not provided its own detailed estimate of the cost, his proposal clearly exists on a separate plane from political feasibility. But Sanders is an avowed socialist who’s so far outside the norm of the Democratic Party that he’s not even a member. On the other side of the aisle, it’s the establishment GOP that has self-deported from reality.

Conservatives counter that tax cuts might invigorate investment, spur entrepreneurship and hiring, and accelerate growth. This may be, but defenders of President George W. Bush said the same about his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, and few recall the last 15 years for their magical growth rates. The truth is that nobody knows how an unprecedented budget upheaval would affect the rate of GDP growth in a complex global economy, because, well, it is hard to forecast something that is unprecedented. But we know something else: If you drastically cut taxes for millionaires and promise to make it up in cuts to safety-net programs, you will get richer millionaires and weaker safety nets. Now, which Republican candidate is brave enough to put that message on repeat?

Related Videos