Rebranding has been a trending news item in recent weeks. Cracker Barrel tried it earlier this year and wound up reversing course. The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are in a similar pickle following the July 4 signing of the president’s tax and spending package.
Ranking GOP officials want to rebrand the Big Beautiful Bill, urging Republicans to now call it the Working Families Tax Cut Bill. But that’s a pretty heavy lift. After all, the legislative title of H.R. 1 in the Congressional Record and affected federal agencies is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
To be sure, the president’s plan cut a lot of taxes for working families. Those who rely on income from tips get a break, as do wage employees working overtime. Further relief comes from increased deductions for seniors to offset taxes on Social Security, higher deductions for state and local taxes, and increasing the standard deduction, lowering taxes for the estimated 90 percent of Americans who do not itemize deductions on their tax returns.
These and other provisions are unquestionably helping tens of millions of Americans, but the benefits won’t be realized by many taxpayers until they file their returns early next year. Unless people have managed to revise the tax withholding from their paychecks, these cuts are not yet tangible for most people.
Business tax relief is similarly helpful and also time released. Maintaining the 20 percent tax credit for small business makes a huge difference for independent business owners. Preferential treatment for capital expenditures and plant construction also bodes well for business growth and expansion. Like the individual tax provisions, the total effects will take time to be fully realized and appreciated. But what is arguably the most important part of the Big Beautiful Bill is the most challenging brand message to manage.
Americans have enjoyed lower taxes since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with families saving thousands of dollars year after year. But the BBB did not cut those taxes; it prevented them from expiring at year’s end. Making the 2017 tax cuts permanent is a huge deal, saving taxpayers trillions by preventing the biggest tax hike in history, but it doesn’t lend itself to a pithy talking point. It’s true that, by unanimously opposing the BBB, every congressional Democrat voted to allow higher taxes next year. That’s easy to communicate but it’s not a very compelling message. Republicans are expected to keep taxes low so they were maintaining the status quo, which doesn’t make a great bumper sticker.
It wouldn’t be surprising for GOP approval ratings to tick higher early next year as Americans see bigger tax refunds after filing their taxes and bigger 401(k) balances in their annual statement. But trying to rebrand the BBB echoes what Democrats have been doing since the defeat of Kamala Harris last November - Democrats don’t see any problems with policy, they just need better messaging. It’s a myopic mistake for Democrats and wouldn't work any better for Republicans. Americans are increasingly calling BS on so-called messaging strategies and a GOP rebrand probably wouldn’t be any more helpful than what Democrats are doing.
A better approach would involve crafting new policies to promote. If Republicans want to crow about cutting taxes, they should cut them. Congress is currently grappling with budget, tax and spending issues as the end of the 2025 fiscal year approaches, so additional tax relief this year is unlikely. But the 119th Congress has another year to go, providing an opportunity for additional tax cuts. Legislation to reduce taxes further in 2026 would give Republicans a potent campaign issue and avoid debating the rebranding of what’s already signed into law.
Federal budgets have many thousands of moving parts, each one subject to compromise and congressional horse trading in order to get enough votes to pass. The process for 2026 is further complicated by legal challenges to Trump administration policies on spending cuts and tariffs. But once the judicial dust settles, budget writers should have the clarity needed to propose lower taxes without adding to our $37.4 trillion debt.
If the administration and congressional Republicans can draft a credible tax cut plan, it would be an ideal issue for the midterm campaign. Democrats would present a united front against it, giving the GOP the advantages of good policy and simple, effective messaging: ‘I’ll cut your taxes and my opponent wants to raise them.’
Republicans wishing to campaign on tax cuts for working families should draft and pass legislation to cut taxes for working families. It needn’t be huge; every little bit helps and to the extent Congress can reduce Americans’ tax burden in 2026 they should. Rather than ruminating over messaging about a law that’s already on the books, they need to stop looking in the rear view mirror and look forward. That’s what leaders do.
Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats try desperately to stop it.
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