“The tax cuts that Hovde has publicly supported and endorsed would benefit the rich more than middle-class workers.”

MADISON, Wis. — On Oct 24th, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel confirmed that Eric Hovde supports $4 trillion in tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy. The Hovde Plan would cut taxes for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations, while raising taxes on the middle class. 

The Hovde plan also includes an abortion ban, cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and repealing the Affordable Care Act in its entirety. 

Read more below: 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Baldwin Claim That Hovde Supports Tax Plan That Benefits the Rich is Correct

By: Laura Shulte

In an Oct. 11, 2024 interview on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Baldwin took aim at Hovde’s tax plan, or at least one he says he will support. 

 “He supports a $4 trillion tax plan that would disproportionately advantage the well-off and profitable corporations,” she said. “We need to fight for tax cuts for working families,”

Trump tax plan does benefit the wealthy

When we asked Baldwin’s campaign for more information, they shared a document containing a number of links to articles showing Hovde has publicly supported extending the tax cuts in the 2017 tax bill created by former President Donald Trump.

According to a Sept. 4, 2024 report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hovde is advocating for extending Republican President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

That tax plan could add an additional $4 trillion to the U.S. debt, according to an Oct. 7, 2024 report from NPR. […]

According to a June 13, 2024 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute, Trump’s 2017 tax cuts mostly benefited the rich. If left in place, the tax plan would leave those cuts in place. 

Households with incomes in the top 1 percent received a tax cut of more than $60,000, while households in the bottom 60% will receive a $500 average tax cut in 2025, the report said. 

“As a share of after-tax income, tax cuts at the top – both for households in the top 1 percent and the top 5 percent – are more than triple the total value of the tax cuts received for people with incomes in the bottom 60 percent,” the report said. 

So yes, the tax cuts that Hovde has publicly supported and endorsed would benefit the rich more than middle-class workers. And it’s likely that those same cuts would raise the U.S. debt as well. 

A Hovde campaign spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment. And Hovde’s campaign website doesn’t list any sort of tax plan, and he hasn’t spoken at length about a tax plan, either.

Our ruling

Baldwin claimed that Hovde “supports a $4 trillion tax plan that would disproportionately advantage the well-off and profitable corporations.”

Hovde has publicly supported extending the 2017 tax cuts put into place by Donald Trump. Research has shown that those tax cuts are more likely to benefit the ultra-rich, while the middle class receives less of a benefit. This proposal isn’t new in any way – it would simply be a continuation of the status quo. The wealthy saw the biggest savings when paying their taxes, instead of low and middle class Americans.  

We rate this claim as Mostly True, meaning the statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information.