Samuelson puts it simply

Even while President Trump was tramping through the puddles left near Hurricane Harvey's path of destruction in coastal Texas, he was also talking about tax reform. At least that's what he and the Republican fuzzy thinkers in Congress are calling it. In reality, as several pundits have noted, it isn't really tax reform. It's a plain ol' tax cut, and the benefits, as would be expected, go primarily to the top 1% of wealthy households in the nation.

The thing is, as the Washington Post's Robert Samuelson so well explains, we don't need a tax cut. In fact, we need money, via higher taxes -- as the necessity of providing disaster relief to Harvey victims indicates. And paying for more troops in Afghanistan. And building up the Navy.  And improving programs to address climate change.  (Ha, just kidding on that last one. Ugh.)

Here's what Samuelson says:

"Second, we cannot afford a net tax cut. If we are to lower tax rates and simplify complex tax provisions, we must offset the revenue losses by plugging loopholes, raising other taxes or cutting spending. Under current policies, the Congressional Budget Office has projected $10 trillion in deficits from 2018 to 2027. Trump’s tax plan, including provisions that would raise revenue, would add an additional $3.5 trillion in deficits over a decade, estimates the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center (TPC)."

Why do we need higher taxes, not a tax cut?

"The truth is that we need higher, not lower, taxes. When the economy is at or near “full employment,” the budget should be balanced or even show a slight surplus."

Pretty simple to understand! But the Republicans are pretty stupid, so pretty simple is over their heads.