The GOP tax reform act passed last week, late into the night. This is a dramatic overhaul of the current tax system, with any possible effects ignored.

There are currently many issues with this bill, and the polls are showing dismal approval ratings. 20% of Americans support the current plan. Only 26% of people believe that they’ll be better off with this tax bill.

So who are the one’s opposing this bill? Why are so many Americans against it? And how does the bill impact Arlington?

Arlington is solidly middle class, both for the national definition of middle class, and then adjusted for Washington’s cost of living. The average income is around 65,000 per year.

However, the proposed new bill will raise taxes on incomes lower than 75,000 by 2027, economists say. After initial tax cuts that are set to expire in ten years, the average American’s taxes will greatly increase.

Another thing that will wind up hurting the already weakening middle class is the elimination of deductions that one is able to take. Under previous tax laws, people were commonly able to deduct student loan interests, college tuition (up to 4,000 dollars), and state and local taxes. It will hurt those most vulnerable, and affect millions of newly graduated college students.

So who is benefitting from these new tax laws? It’s primarily businesses, and the already wealthy. The corporate tax will be lowered from 35% to 20%, and contrary to Republican claims, businesses seem to not be interested in increasing their hiring practices, or increasing the income of the average worker, with 59% saying there would be no change if the tax bill was passed in it’s current form.

The estate tax, which was enacted primarily to avoid huge amounts of generational wealth, was doubled to eleven million for a single filer, and twenty-two million for married filers, which to the average American, is quite pointless.

This bill will likely harm Arlington in the long-run, making it more expensive for the middle-class family to live as they did before the bill.