I understand that Rubio figured he could hold out and get something out of this bill, even if it wasn’t a lot. But Corker, who proclaimed he wasn’t an obstructionist but a long-time deficit hawk, signed as well. As far as I can tell, these new revisions to the tax bill do nothing to reduce the original deficit that Corker voted against.
That’s a real disappointment—not just because I’m a Democrat, but because it would be so refreshing to see a member of Congress stand up for principle.
10
The only "good" thing that can come out of this is that in 2018, huge numbers of republicans (lower case R - the party deserves no respect - will lose the seats they do not deserve to have, enough to have a veto proof majorityi n the horrible event that the maniac is still in office. And then sensible legislators will reverse this bill and tax the pants off the super rich.
6
This is a big win for small businesses who use pass-throughs.* They're the largest job creators in the country.
"Most businesses are pass-throughs.
Of the 26 million businesses in 2014, 95 percent were pass-throughs, while only 5 percent were C-corporations.
Almost all businesses are small.
In 2014, almost 99 percent of businesses, whether pass-through businesses or C-corporations, had $10 million or less in sales or receipts."
Why would we impose punishing rates on these small businesses just because wealthy people profit?
***********
* https://www.brookings.edu/research/9-facts-about-pass-through-businesses/
4
America is the land of the duped, scammed, played, and punked.
This is a $1 trillion-plus tax giveaway that will only make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Where's the billions needed for our crumbling infrastructure, education system, health care, or to combat climate change, which grows worse with every year?
These trillions in tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses will NEVER get paid back, except by future generations of average Americans, and putting us further in debt to counties like China, who assuredly are all laughing at our utter stupidity and recklessness.
Thank you, imbecile GOP Congress!
11
Corker, Rubio and probably Collins -- profiles in cowardice.
11
The United States is fast becoming an international joke. So sad.
10
Look at the utter contempt your plutocracy has for you, Americans. There is nothing here but vanishing table scraps for you. By acquiescing to Trump, you have proven you will fall for any fraud, however blatant, if it somehow is tied into promoting religion and guns, and blocking family planning.
8
For once I agree with rump: little Marco is out of his league. And Collins is either a huge phony or pretty stupid. And Flake is, well, a flake. And it goes on...
The thing is, rump's base won't see the effects to their own pocketbooks until their 2018 taxes are done, in April 2019, well after the 2018 mid-term election. Will they smarten up beforehand and vote these lying weasels out of office? Probably not if Fox fake news is still broadcasting.
Our country is being stolen folks, by unAmerican scoundrels of unfathomable greed. People that laugh at concerns about a fascist state are not paying enough attention.
This is a dangerous time, and if protesters can be jailed and threatened with 60-year jail sentences, what else would you call it?
13
Call your Reps and Senators and yell at them.
2
Any bill that can't get 60 out 100 votes is prima facie bad.
5
Amazing!
In Obama’s 8 years, the national debt rose 9 trillion dollars. Any suggestion that it be lowered were dismissed by economist flunkies like Paul Krugman who said our ability to print money and the “lack of inflation” – free federal borrowing because the Fed had lowered the return of federal bonds to nothing, destroying the retirement of the elderly – made debt unimportant. And Obama’s anti-business policies and redistributive health plan whose 20 million enrollees had their policies subsidized by the skyrocketing rates of those who had to pay for it caused his 8 years to have less than 2% annual economic growth, the only time in our history, including the Great Depression, when growth was that bad.
Economic growth in the second quarter of Trump’s administration was over 3.5%; the third quarter was over 3.6%. The growth from the tax bill’s freeing of our manufacturing sector will outdo that.
The result will be an explosion of tax receipts, the only real issue regarding the debt, the one thing its liberal critics will not mention.. The debt will start to be lowered; you will have to stop your fake grief. The middle class will be employed again. The opiod epidemic among its unemployed “deplorables” will finally wane. They will be able to afford the 300% inflated prices of consumer goods.
The result at the polls will give you something to really cry about.
4
Rubio working to build that faux maverick image now that McCain is moving out of the picture.
5
And, the streets of [this GOP Ponzi boondoggle] are paved with gold?
"C'mon Wendy, all you have to do is...Believe."-Peter Pan/Tinker Bell Inc.
2
Were McConnell to leave the Senate he would do well as a pig farmer, he is very adept at "slopping the hogs". Pride of purpose is totally absent in this greed obsessed Congress.
2
If Alabama can do it maybe we can too, god i"m praying for a wave in 2018. I will do my part!
8
It appears the Times has come full circle, and is now using the power of the written word, as I've so often discovered these last several decades of reading it, to manage perception, in particular manage the perception of the poor and the middle-class, into thinking this tax bill gives them "breaks". How terribly mean, and just before Christmas, a time of universal giving. If you cared at all, prove it by citing, in large font, front page above the fold, the fact that insofar as the poor and the middle-class are concerned, existing tax policy is absolutely fine, and list how this new tax bill is eliminating benefits, and specifically state, the new bill has no new "breaks", none at all, for the poor and the middle-class. God, how you all avariously chortle and gleefully rub your hands together, thankful that power to manipulate and manage perception is available to you, for truth be told, are you not one of the beneficiaries ?? To all who still can see reality - this tax bill is simply the latest card being dealt in the game of taking all the wealth, except for that necessary to sustain basic living, from the poor and the middle-class, and giving it to corporate America and the wealthiest Americans. Nothing more, nothing less.
4
And the so called Tea Party have proven themselves to be nothing but a lot of hot air.
6
Hope you Repubs are all getting your resumes spiffed up, because you'll soon be looking for other jobs (if you haven't already been promised ambassadorships by the current administration or their lobbyists.)
3
What about "No One" Being Above The Law ?
Grand larcenies carry much longer sentences than do petit (or "petty") larcenies.
Will we be seeing these criminals off to prison?
Just wait till our children find out that republicans have stolen the life they should have had.
Surprise! This is SO convenient for republicans and Trump. The children they are robbing Can't Vote!
(Fits right in with the republican M.O., since WE did not vote for Trump)
At least those in grade school should be interviewed, before this theft is perpetrated by the republicans.
Like taking candy from a baby.
Just the way Trump and the republicans like it. Smart,.. real smart,.. eh Trump?
Now you can add this to the internet you robbed from us too.
3
For those who believe the anger at the GOP is widespread, I would suggest getting a handle on the number of people actually affected.
"About 10 percent of tax filers with income under $50,000 claimed the SALT deduction in 2014, compared with about 81 percent of tax filers with income over $100,000. The latter group—about 16 percent of tax filers—accounted for about 75 percent of the total dollar amount of SALT deductions claimed."
This is a problem primarily for earners over $100K. It's not a problem for low wage earners, who will enjoy increased standard deductions and credits; nor is it a problem for very high income individuals, who will enjoy lowered brackets.
*****
*http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/repeal-state-and-local-tax-d...
3
Because of his timing, Rubio had a great opportunity to insist on CHIP (CHILDREN HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM) being funded, yet, he didn't. Oh well! Sen. Mike Lee, from Utah, a state that is first in the nation in fertility, didn't either. Who in Congress really cares? Maybe it is up to Paul Ryan who is pleading with American women to have more children. Ha!
4
"Senator Collins, Senator Corker, Senator McCain & Senator Lee, vote your consciences, and kill this bill." --Dr Ruth of Florida
The latter three will vote yes, and Collins will vote no--once she's sure nobody else is voting no. Vote no to look "moderate" back home but by god, first make sure the bill will pass.
We're on to you, Senator Collins.
5
Republicans have ginned up the US Treasury printing presses...time to produce 1.5 trillion in new ones, fives, 10's and 20's.......one day they'll discover they've run out of ink and blame the Democrats. Then what?
I'm so disappointed my taxes will go down next year.
You see, I'm one of those stooped Trump deplorables. I'm not nearly smart enough to keep and spend my own money. I'd rather give it to the federal government where all those smart bureaucrats "work." They'd probably use it for some really good purpose, like saving snail darters or providing free Obama phones. Maybe they can hire more Democrat FBI agents to investigate Trump and the Russians. Or increase the Congressional slush fund that politicians use to pay off sexual harassment victims.
Chuck and Nancy tell me that every penny of taxpayer money is spent wisely and that the more they have, the wiser they'll spend it. And politicians always tell us the truth. Right?
3
Trillions of dollars are an abstract problem like polar ice caps melting in 50 years.
2
And of course now Donald Trump says "little Marco" is a great guy.
Rubio working hard on that faux maverick image now that McCain is moving out of the picture.
Marco looks and acts young enough to take a child tax credit on, doesn't he?
this Tax Reform is no better than the famous " President Bush bailout plan,"...which was taxpayer money to the BANK's and then giving themselves Golden Parachute retirements and Bonuses. Just wait until you see how the 20% permanent corporate tax break will benefit the wealthy by buying back stocks and investing in modern technology to reduce labor cost and eliminate any benefits what's left....this is political suicide for the republican party....just repeat temporary tax breaks for the working class and permanent tax cut for corporate America,, temporary taxes for the working class, permanent for corporate America, .......why don't we just have a 2018 version of another Boston Tea Party and after throwing all the tea overboard finance the British to import more Earl Grey and force us to pay an inflated price..........What a JOKE
I'm surprised to see the NYT's continued reporting that the AMT is an alternative tax for high income earners. This is very misleading. While it was originally devised as such, it was not indexed for inflation and has increasingly caught up more moderate earners. The AMT begins to phase in at $100,000 of gross income dependent upon certain other factors. As a NYC resident, this is not the definition of wealth.
https://www.leefin.com/alternative-minimum-tax-not-just-wealthy/
2
What fun! Obama blew thru $10 trillion and average middle class American got nothing, zero, nada.
So Trumps plan will give Middle class taxpayers a modest tax reduction and liberals heads are exploding.
Plain and simple- Trumps plan gives some money back to the middle class and costs only $1.5 trillion ( which might be paid by growth) vs obama blowing thru $10 trillion and middle class got nothing
Easy choice
1
Correction to article needed:
"In a pre-emptive move against accounting maneuvers in high-tax states such as New York and California, the bill prohibits taxpayers from prepaying next year’s state and local income or property taxes, in order to deduct them from 2018 taxes."
As anyone knows who'd planned to do just that, "2018 taxes" in this sentence should read "2017 taxes."
1
"Here, just put this gift to my friends on the card. My employers the public will pay for it when the bill comes due." - The Fiscal Conservative Ponzi Scheme
1
Lets not forget theses names next time we vote - Corker, Rubio, Collins and the rest of the GOP - 2018 & 2020 is payback time.
Most commenters here are very uniformed about who pays taxes and how much. The top 1% pay nearly 40% of all income taxes collected. The problem is the spending. Let Europe, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Japan, S. Korea, etc pay for their own defense. Eliminate food stamps, welfare, housing vouchers, and other rewards to poor people for breeding. Decentralize the federal goverment - agencies can be moved to low cost areas. Many more ways to cut spending.
1
I read the NTY daily and for the most part, never thought I would be critical of its reporting. This article fails to mention that the final bill will result in $25 billion cuts to Medicare starting in 2018. That alone should make the headline, and shows that the Republicans who were holding out for modifications for the child tax credit were being disingenuous and the other holdouts who have now signed on lost their spine.
8
Passing this tax bill could be the best thing yet for the country. When the effects of it ripple out into middle America and the Trump base, a seismic effect is likely to ensue. The Republicans will be exposed as the charlatans they are, and notwithstanding their miming theological purity and righteousness, the devastation they wreak will catapult them out of office. The tax bill will be exposed as the "Fast Eddie" bill of goods it is and it will be repealed after 2018 or after 2020 at the latest after the Republicans have been ousted. You can't fool all the people all the time. Best Christmas gift for the Democrats yet: May the Republicans get what they want!
3
Well done. This will ignite GNP growth the likes we have not seen since early 2000's. Again, well done Congress (at least the ones there voting in favor that actually want everyone in America to achieve the American dream!!!)
1
Why oh why is the elimination of personal exemptions not getting any attention at all?
As the GOP exploit the incompetence of a compromised leader, we now have evidence of their deep hatred fro the ordinary American. I believe they are all being paid off by lobbiest and stealing everything. Please, someone with a shred of decency in the White House or Congress, speak up for us.
3
This is not a tax bill. It's a tax heist.
2
Where is Susan Collins? She will lose on the individual mandate and Maine isn't know for its big corporations.
2
As lies go, the statement by the Tennessee senator that he would oppose any bill that raised the debt by a "penny", would have to be considered a corker.
7
The silence from the GOP alleged “deficit hawks” is deafening today.
8
So after whining for years about the adverse effects of deficits, the Failure and Ignorance Party adds 1.5 trillion to the bill to reward their wealthy contributors.These folks have no morals,no ethics,and not a clue .
4
What are the proposed tax brackets?
Really rich white men (mostly) voting to enrich really, really rich white men.
The King of Trumplandia will declare a great victory as the Rose Garden fills with the sounds of joy and elation. Meanwhile, this 'Trojan Horse' bill is being delivered surreptitiously into our Great Society where its deception will eventually be revealed.
1
With national opinion strongly against this bill, ample evidence by several reputable sources of its terrible effects on the working middle class, the $1 trillion increase in the national debt that even the Treasury has admitted will happen, the windfall that the very rich will get from this robbery, I cannot understand the motivation of the Republican held Congress. Is their support a version of a Hail Mary to continue financial support from the Koch brothers? Are the side deals so attractive that they would sell out their constituents for their continued personal gain?
They are an appalling group of Grifters, made evident by their utter lack of serious concern for the general welfare. If they have convinced themselves of the benefits of this abomination, then they can be convinced about just anything. We need free thinking people in DC, not puppets to someone trying to remake this county into a dictatorship with oligarchs watching every move. Get the bums out.....
3
And how much are we doling out to the Industrial War Complex?
2
The Republicans know very well that only 25% of the American people approve of this bill and they do not care. They want to reward their donors and the wealthiest and care little about the rest of us. They are also passing this monstrosity with no Democratic support. Not one of them deserves to be re-elected. In fact each one of them deserves to be recalled now!
2
This is the “gift” from Trump and the GOP that keeps on taking from the American people. But he is saying otherwise, which is false truth.
Rubio’s yes vote was never in doubt. He merely wanted to command a news cycle and have the veneer of caring about working people.
3
Senator Corker, your initial response to this bill was right. Should have followed your own gut reaction.
1
Rubio's maneuver will get a poor taxpayer $300 per child. The %2.6 tax cut given to the richest taxpayers will yield $26,000 to the taxpayer. Fair is fair, eh?
3
Liars and self-dealers. They're Republicans. What can you expect? Both will try to run for president. Senators Collins, Flake, McCain? This tax bill is a health care bill and a windfall for the already rich, and it's morally wrong. Re-engage your consciences, Please!
4
Any person that votes for this tax cut bill is not a Christian or does not follow the basic tenets of any recognized religion. Atheist have more compassion. WWJD? I know but our politicians certainly do not.
1
If you think this tax bill helps the little guy, then I know of a bridge in NYC you can buy cheaply, maybe even with your new riches. And the rich? They can send their accountant to the bank while they loll on their private beach.
I feel sooooo grateful to the Republican party...
1
Steeped in hypocrisy and brewed using old coffee grounds, this bill will be the end of the GOP majority. They are too arrogant to realize it.
4
So the "fiscally responsible" GOP runs up the debt by a Trillion or more.
Then they want a Constitutional amendment for balanced budgets, always, regardless of what the country might need at any time.
I can't decide if they're really bad at math, or if lying to the people has gotten to be so commonplace that they've become comfortable doing so.
Or maybe they already know that the disaster in the White House and their own allegiance to wealthy donors are going to cause a lot of Dems to be voted in, and they just want to set up an impossible playing field for a Dem Congress, so they can complain when Dems can't create a miracle solution to this mess.
I don't really believe that most of the Republican Congress are stupid or dislike the American people. But a bill like this makes me wonder once again why nearly all of those elected would vote for such a stupid thing, and why those who elected them put up with it.
2
Is it not enough for the rich to be rich? Do they really need to be richer? Throw the bums out in 2018, write a just tax code, and make America fair again.
1
I've just looked at the changes that will be to my taxes using the new tax bill, For the last 5yrs I've paid approx 2K per yr. (I'm retired) If this goes through as planned they will change to 5K per yr. So what do I get for a 150% increase besides lies & mistruths. 8-(
8
I don't understand why since Sen. Corker is leaving the senate, why is he voting for this fraudulent tax bill?
3
This bill is a farce. A rushed decision is a bad decision.
1
Three essential take-away's from this debacle:
1. Marco Rubio is the still nothing more than a showboater who will earnestly object to something--anything, in fact--to get his name mentioned in the news. In the end, his objections are always overcome in time for him to vote in favor of whatever Mitch McConnell wants.
2. Susan Collins has just lost her Senate seat in Maine. She is ignoring the wishes of her constituents. I hope Mitch McConnell promised her something wonderful (a committee chair, perhaps?) for her vote.
3. Bob Corker has re-thought his decision to retire. Why else would he vote for a bill he knows to be a disaster for the very future he spoke of so wistfully just a fe months ago?
3
Rubio’s silly challenge was a pre-arranged set up. The “fix” was guaranteed and gives him cover for his political future, along with a cloak of fake reasonableness for the whole wretched process. I plan to go on a general consumer spending strike, and drop my income as low as possible to avoid paying into this fraudulent administration.
1
Democracy is virtually dead in the US. Although technically we have the right to vote, the Republicans in power are not representing the will or needs of the people. They pass bills and regulations against the best interests of the very people who elected them - and to the detriment of the entire country. They have become servants of the donors and large corporations who finance elections and employ them when the leave government. Our system is crippled courtesy of "legal" corruption in the way we finance elections and inform voters on important issues.
Various studies show that the total US corporate tax burden (federal, state and local) is between 18-21% of profits. Yes, the top marginal tax rate is 35% but no one pays that. About 70% of corporations in the US pay no federal tax at all. We are already much more generous in tax rates than much of the industrialized world. This bill is a give-a-away for the rich.
The Republicans are stuck in an 18th and 19th vision of the country where landed interests (those with money and power) rule the rest of us because "they know best."
The solutions require (1) major changes to campaign financing, (2) instituting term limits, and (3) restoring truth and balance in news coverage. Reagan vetoed the "Fairness Doctrine" bill which would have enshrined FCC rules (in effect since 1949) that required presenting contrary views on news effecting the public and national interest. This repeal allowed the rise of right-wing radio and Fox "news"
3
I pledge to never ever vote for anyone who votes to pass this bill. I pledge to bad mouth and despise anyone who votes to pass this bill. Unfortunately, that all I can do.
2
If the only way Republicans can pass any legislation is to pander to the "Republican receiver" states, that's a kind of bribery that is more disgusting than anything Trump has come up with yet.
The reality of what "else" is embedded in this tax bill is pure ramming of their religious values down our throats. And just where is the Catholic church on this? Right there masculining as always.
Now that Trump has gotten his jolt of Putin adrenaline from this week's phone "chat," out come more bashing, more power acting and more Oscar award winning rebelliousness from Republicans.
This piece of legislation, if it is signed before year's end will immediately show what's wrong with it the minute Americans began to file their end of year taxes.
The very fact that Republicans are so desperately power hungry that they ignore the voice of the people paying the most in federal taxes, shows they do not realize that those same tax dollars can be withheld at the state level until such time as an equitable tax reform bill is passed that doesn't force Dem states to do all the paying and all the GOP state doing all the receiving.
1
The limit on the SALT deduction in the new tax bill is worse than it seems. There’s a stealth tax increase hidden in the “simplification” that removes the personal exemption(s). Under current law, one takes the standard deduction or itemized deductions, then subtracts personal exemptions to figure the taxable income. Under the new law, after the deductions there are no additional exemption to subtract. So to even break even with the old code one needs an additional amount of itemized deductions equal to the old personal exemptions. The more people in the family, the worse this gets. Sneaky.
6
Rubio caved? Why, how is that possible for someone with the backbone of a self-serving politician?
10
That the majority of us have to put up with this slap in the face that the imaginary tax cut for us is temporary, while cuts for the wealthy and corporations is permanent, is inexcusable.
And just wait till whatever cuts are paid for with Ryan's shredding of safety nets which will hit the elderly, the poor, and the sick like a sledgehammer.
Particular shame on Corker, Rubio, Collins, Murkowski, and presumably Flake for this garbage insulting legislation.
10
This is not tax reform, this is economic manipulation. It's also based on projections that may never take place if you consider economic history. These corporations already have enough money to invest in economic stimulus and jobs which the tax breaks they're getting is supposed to motivate them to create. They'll just buy back their own stock and share the wealth the tax cuts create to further enrich their shareholders.
And what happened to the "deficit hawks" that insisted that everything be revenue neutral? Adding a trillion and a half to the deficit is by no stretch of the imagination revenue neutral.
When the government is not taking in enough revenue anymore to function properly will they then offset the difference by coming for your social security or Medicaid? Without doubt.
The bill, drafted in darkness and along party lines without debate is the very thing that makes failed legislation. It involves no thought for the long term ramifications or impact to the nation.
This was done not in the interest of the country, but to claim a win by an administration which is thus far a dismal failure and absent of substance. It is frenetic in nature, just like the chaos that comes from the White House and those that will benefit the most, as usual, getting the financial shot in the arm at the expense of those who need it the most.
Typical GOP hype based on old trickle down economics that have never worked with the destruction of the ACA as a bonus.
9
I am amazed at comments here who applaud this bill, sure there
are not a lot but still, how low can one go and who do they
owe fealty to? Gee please pour more water on a drowning
middle and lower class, will you? How do we get the donor
sugar tit out of the mouths large percentage of the Democrats?
How do we get those favored Democrats to say no to the same
donors that the Republicans have just served? Can we wean the
corporate fed Democrats to just live on their salaries and
actually serve us lowly and none to rich voters? Can we
shame them or convince them to do the job they were
elected to do? As I have said before I am going to try
and vote only for unbought candidates. But if anyone
has an idea how to get the majority of the Democrats
back on an honorable path I would like to hear how.
There are no "moderate" Republicans in congress. Not one. They will all vote for this horrible bill, and they will all personally benefit. That is what the Republican party is about.
10
I'm a retired widower and calculate my federal taxes will increase approximately $2,500 a year (+14%). Thank you republicans for increasing my taxes to support corporations and business (sarcastic).
12
It is not a "swift victory" when democracy and shared governance is abridged. Zero-sum is exactly that. Zero for one side and EVERYTHING for the other side. We are destroying our democracy, vote by Republican vote . . .
5
I'd like to see a list of the corporate deductions and loopholes that they've closed. I haven't heard of any yet.
6
The left always eschews economic growth. Have you ever wondered why?
1) If Obama couldn't achieve 3% growth, it must not be achievable. His entire economic legacy is on the line.
2) If economic growth is not achievable, no reason to lower corporate tax rates. ( see today's comment section for proof.) Better to increase taxes on the job creators.
3) If economic growth is not achievable, median wages can not rise. Therefore the only way to improve the life of the middle class is minimum wage hikes and wealth redistribution. That's the lefts stock and trade.
4) Ecomomic growth requires burning of fossil fuels, which they believe causes climate change.
5) Prosperous people are more difficult to control. And they tend not to vote for more free stuff.
6) It's fun to accuse Republicans of giveaways to the rich!
7) Secular Stagnation is cool to say and makes you sound smart.
In conclusion, don't believe that the left prefers economic growth of 3 to 4%, because they don't.
They just want to transfer wealth, grow government, gain power and accuse Republicans of being greedy. Nothing more.
4
Remind me to never refer to Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski as "moderate" Republicans again. They've sold out.
Corker, Flake, McCain, Cruz, Johnson, Rubio at al. are not "conservatives" either. They are selling out the country for their own comfort and retirement.
Rand Paul is AWOL, apparently after a fight with his neighbor over grass clippings.
And McConnell has emerged as an enemy of the people and democratic rule.
What a mess.
9
How interesting that the reporting on this leans ever-slightly more favorable as this long-needed relief for America becomes a stark reality. How exasperating it is, though, that many still think that getting your own income back from the money-grubbing Fed is some kind of problem.
1
If this bill passes, it sends a clear message to me and my neighbors in North East that, we have become an official oligarchy as Russia.
Delivered by insecure Red State deplorables.
Only weird part is that they don't realize the frost bite they will suffer as well. SO far their state legislators has robbed them and we the blues have provided last line. Once that doesn't exists, they will see that there is no wall, which can protect their way of life.
5
NYT, Thank you for your unbiased, fact-based reporting (I don't work at the CDC so I guess I can still use those terms, for now.) Please still cover in more detail the vital, but hard to explain impact that the end of the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act will have on the entire healthcare system. As a healthcare professional x 34 yrs, my summary would be that the healthcare system is an intricately interwoven system and any change in the system impacts everyone. I foresee higher premiums for almost everyone, more premature deaths, a huge drop in people getting preventative care. No one has said the ACA is perfect, it's not, but ending the individual mandate will show how important it is as a part of our entire system. Thank you for educating us all, in a time when we can't rely on our government to tell the truth.
7
How does Corker go from saying he will vote "no" to any bill that raises the deficit one penny to voting "yes" to this tax bill that raises the deficit 1.5T? And Ms. Collins, you are being taken for a ride. I am a Massachusetts resident. My only significant tax deduction is SALT. I have no corporate backing, and work about 80 hours per week. I have two kids, one still in college, one looking for a job. I guess I am the proverbial middle class, a middle class that only has power at the ballot box. Yet, when it comes time to vote, too many of those similarly situated are disgusted and do not vote. I had faith in Corker, Flake, McCain and Collins. All four should be met at the airport upon arriving for their Holiday break so that constituents can "greet" them and let them know exactly the pain so many will face.
7
This is a travesty for the Nation, middle income, elderly and working poor.
The GOP considers this a win for their party and is blissfully gloating over it. Included in their joyful bliss are the special interests, lobbyist, big corporations and Wall Street who will reap tremendous monetary benefits. All the GOP wanted was a win at whatever the cost prior to the end of this year….this bill exemplified that desire. It is quite transparent that the GOP does not seem to care about the additional debt ramifications to the existing debt which will result from this bill and the harm it will cause to millions. Murkowski, Corker, Rubio and the rest of this despicable lot including the President….I hope your happy knowing your actions will inevitably put the nation, the environment and the people at risk.
What a disgusting and deplorable act.
4
Had the GOP leadership, under McConnell, followed regular order and held hearings on the tax bill they would have made more informed policy decisions.
Case in point: Corporations DO NOT pay a tax rate of 35%. From 2008-2015 the 258 consistently profitable corporations in the Fortune 500 paid an average EFFECTIVE TAX RATE of 21.2%. In this group, 48 paid an effective tax rate of less than 10% and 18 of these "profitable" companies (including GE, Priceline, PP&G) paid ZERO in federal taxes. BTW, almost all of these companies paid a higher rate of taxation to foreign governments.
Congress: Open your eyes and let the daylight of reality daylight shine through.
4
This tax bill is disproportionally on the shoulders of the poor and middle classes. The popular and needed ACA is defunded and many will lose their health insurance. The deficit will balloon and Republicans still won't say where the money to pay for the tax cuts to the wealthy will come from (we know social programs will be cut). Let us not forget how quickly this was rammed down our throats--no time for discussion or debate in Congress. In a word--Disgraceful!
Let's not forget that 241 years ago a revolution was started partly because of unfair and very unpopular taxes. Congress should not forget that valuable history lesson.
3
Well, my, my, Senator Bob Corker has agreed to support the impending tax reform bill. I am not surprised because as a wealthy Chattanooga businessman with deep pockets he stands to gain greatly from the legislation. All of his talk about increasing the deficit was just talk, noting but talk. Me and thousands of other Tennesseans will be glad to see him leave the Senate. My criticism of Corker does not mean I don't support the tax reform legislation, which I wholeheartedly support. my criticism is of Corker himself, a spineless individual who does not stand up for what he truly believe. Even a snake has a spine! Having said that, I must raise the question, what does Corker truly believe? He should abdicate to the Democrat Party. Whomever replaces him will be a better representative from Tennessee, including the Democrat Phil Bredesen, who I consider one of the state's better governors of recent time. Thank you.
2
Go look at job creation and deficits for Reagan, Clinton, W Bush, Obama and Sam Brownback in Kansas.
Reagan - cut taxes, 16 million jobs, huge increase in deficits.
Clinton - raised taxes, 23 million jobs, huge decrease in deficits, balanced the budget.
W Bush - two tax cuts for the job creators, 3 million jobs, very huge increase in the deficit - $1.4 Trillion.
Obama - raised taxes, gave us the jobs killing Obama-care, 11 million jobs, decreased the deficit by 2/3 to $550 Billion
Then look at the Sam Brownback in Kansas – huge deficits and had to cut education.
Two cases where we raised taxes and got better job creation and deficits came way down.
Three cases where we lowered taxes got worse or no job creation and deficits went way up.
Why are we doing this again?
6
A UN representative, who has been on a two week fact finding mission in the US, stated that this bill would blow apart the social welfare provision. He also stated the bill represents the single most dramatic increase in inequality that could be imagined.
Conservatives laugh at the UN. But let's think about this bill. Step one is cutting taxes for the rich. Step two is making up that deficit by shrinking social security, Medicaire, Medicaid, food stamps, housing, and any other social program that conservatives dislike.
5
With the increasing turnover of power and wealth to private oligarchy, the questionable national loyalty of putatively "nationalist" demagogues, the sabotaging of basic governmental structure and stability and the public confidence therein, the rupture of wise and dependable norms of foreign policy approaches, alliances and relationships, and the pervasive promulgation of an ethic of untruth, the US is perceptibly descending to a failed state.
2
This tax scheme is paving the way for future gutting of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Let's hear what the Trump supporters say when their benefits get ripped out from them- can't wait to finally see the lightbulbs go on when they realize how deeply and thoroughly they've been scammed.
8
Next month, GOP will start about reducing "entitlements" i.e., social security and medicare for poor, to "reduce the deficit".
8
This is excellent and maybe it will drive some fiscal responsibility in high-tax states.
So the "swamp people" rewrote the tax code. How is that working for all the promises to add jobs and fix our infrastructure?
3
Our nation still hasn't dug its way out of Reagan's trickle-down fiasco. The already super wealthy and corporations did just fine, but for the average citizen, not so much. Wages are still stagnant, jobs still go overseas, the homeless population still increases every year. I live paycheck to paycheck like a lot of people and yet I pay more taxes than Exxon-Mobil. This simply isn't the right thing to do. I've read that 80% of the citizens are against this atrocity of a tax bill, and yet our "representatives" are forcing us to live with it. These "representatives" will save a lot and probably park a lot of their savings in the Cayman's, but the People will not. I only hope the Republicans pay dearly for this fiasco that they cobbled together in the middle of the night with not one single public hearing. 2018 may be the last chance the People have to save what's left of our nation by voting Democratic.
3
Republican Members of Congress are servants indentured to their super rich campaign contributors. To even have a chance of getting campaign monies to run in a primary, Republican candidates must sign Grover Nordquist’s pledge that if elected they will NEVER raise taxes in any form. Every sitting Member has done just that. And with that, they are lost to the process of democracy and responsible governance.
The Trump Tax Plan was long coming — certainly long before Trump won the Presidency. The salient feature is not its content but what its content says about these lawmakers vision of shared social responsibilities and their hypocrisy over the past several decades. People, such as Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, who pledged that they would oppose any tax giveaway that would increase the national debt, folded like cheap cardboard and next week will vote aye to the most irresponsible tax legislation and largest give away to the Super Rich in U.S. history.
If the Democrats do not make “Repeal the Trump Tax Plan” a central issue in the 2018 and 2020 elections, they will be as irresponsible as these GOP indentured servants.
2
The US is becoming a second world country. Think Eastern European countries during The Cold War, or Latin American banana republics. A country that does not attempt to invest in all/the majority of its citizens is no longer an industrialized country in the sense "a first world country". Being a first world country involves investing in schooling and education, and protection of the democracy.
2
What an ugly spectacle, as only the Republicans cave into the pressure, favors, false promises and despicable tools used on them by lobbyists and old fossils who pass as "politicians". The people are not being represented, commentators from the left and right universally regard this bill as wrong headed, perverse, disastrous, the product of corrupt thinking. The bill will lead to economic distortions that will not benefit people except the top lucky few percent.
Corker turned quickly after being adamantly against it. I suspect something really manipulative was done in his case. Nothing would surprise me. The wheel of fortune will inevitably turn against the few who are living at the expense of the many. They wealthy should dread the inevitable judgment of the future.
1
Did anyone honestly think these republicans would do anything but sign on. Rubio used the position he gained from Jones win in Alabama to extort a small change he will use in his future presidential campaigns as a way to claim false populism. (His brain is too small for the job never mind his hands. He's the guy who thought mentioning Trumps hand size was presidential behavior in the last campaign.) Collins likes to cultivate the image of having compassion but when it comes right down to it she is republican through and through. Her stance on the ACA debate was pure self preservation not as she claimed compassion for those who need health care. If that worry for people's health care were truth she wouldn't be able to justify this tax cut or the repeal of the ACA requirement to have health insurance. Corker is like Flake, a fraudulent anti hero who loudly proclaims Trump is a nogoodnick while voting with his agenda 99% of the time.
Why is there such little focus on the fact that no one knows what is in this bill? I'm pretty sure every single Congressperson in both houses would look a lot like Mathew Peterson did at his confirmation hearing if questioned about what is in this bill.
Of course it goes without saying but I will anyway, that is Hillary's fault.
1
I'm a retired widower and calculate my federal taxes will increase approximately $2,500 a year (+14%). Thank you for increasing my taxes (sarcastic).
Limiting NOL’s to 80% of income? What does it mean for middle class. Well if insurance companies can’t deduct the full 2017 unprecedented catastrophe losses (hurricane, wildfires) in coming years income, then your insurance premiums are going to increase significantly.
"In a pre-emptive move against accounting maneuvers in high-tax states such as New York and California, the bill prohibits taxpayers from prepaying next year’s state and local income or property taxes, in order to deduct them from 2018 taxes."
WORDS FAIL ME COMPLETELY.
We can vent against the Republicans for voting this bill into law, but we should also realize that if the Republicans didn't exist they would have to be invented in some other form by the mega-rich political donors and the huge corporations who ultimately promote and elect our "representatives."
The Democrats get to take the "high road" because the fix is already in. If there was a real danger of the rich and powerful not getting their way, the Democrats would be ordered to step up and to do something.
This bill will pass because the rich want and need this money to continue their acquisition wars with each other. It's sort of like the Medieval kings who kept their serfs in poverty and war in order to fight other kings for a few hectares of land. This is capitalism at its worst.
1
I held out hope that the GOP senators who have not be afraid to express their contrary voices (Collins, McCain, Corker, Flake, etc.) on such issues as health care and tax restructuring would remain steadfast but at the end of the day, they are no different than their sycophant colleagues who run around with their tails between their legs fearing the wrath of Trump and his base. This is a stain on the GOP and they will pay dearly when the lose control of the House and/or Senate in the mid-term elections. Passing bad legislation merely for the sake of claiming victory is arrogant and immoral.
The damage this bill will do is incalculable. Already the discussions have begun in our trading partner countries about implementing tax policies to blunt the new competitiveness the US corporate tax cut will generate. Did we really think they would sit by quietly as investors turned toward the US?
And then there's the stock market. Corporations now have a choice: Wait for the tax cuts to inflate earnings and boost stock prices, or start buying back that stock right away to boost the price and then enjoy the double dip of the increased earnings effect. Oh wait, I forgot, neither of those will happen because corporations will use this money to raise wages and hire more workers. In other news, Santa Claus arrives next week and the Easter Bunny is not far behind.
Of course, any problems caused by these cuts will immediately be offset by the rush to spend by people no longer forced to buy health care insurance. Imagine the impact on the economy when the money they used to waste on health care insurance starts pouring into Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Those places will be hiring like crazy. Of course, at the same time, please ignore the accompanying rise in health care costs and premiums, not to mention the urgent and emergency room care these newly freed consumers will need at some point.
And then there's the deficit, and its impact on SS, Medicare and Medicaid. Which is really what this is all about and the reason why so many deficit hawks find it so easy to sell their souls.
The next time a Republican friend or family member talks to you about how they're the party of family values that cares about budget deficits and debt, you have every right to laugh in their faces. This is nothing more than a blatant attempt to massively blow up the debt forcing future cuts to social security, medicare and other programs designed to help the average American.
1
I hope Trump and the Republican Leaders host a big Christmas Party and invite all of their big donors, so that the donors can give their campaigns big "Christmas Bonus" donations from their new tax-savings windfalls. Then they can use those campaign funds to try to cover-up the monumental disaster they have created.
I make about $100,000 a year. My wife just retired, receives Social Security and is dying of stage 4 cancer. We pay $5,000 per year in property taxes, and I have about the amount withheld from my check in state income taxes. This bill will raise our taxable income by $13,000, because, as I understand it, it allows the deduction of property taxes OR income taxes (but not a combination of the two) up to $10,000. So, one of those deductions is gone. What no one (including most of the media) is talking about is it also eliminates the $4,150 per year personal exemption. That raises our taxable income another $8,300. This is what Republicans call middle class tax relief? My home state senator, Ron Johnson, now loves the bill after he held out for special tax treatment for his own business. I guess I now know why he ran for office. That, and to take away my wife's health insurance, which she wouldn't have if it weren't for the ACA, which he voted to repeal.
4
So let me get this straight - the same democrats who complain about the "1%" are unhappy that the rich can no longer take a mortgage deduction after $750k and can no longer massively avoid their fair share of federal taxes via the SALT deduction? And then there's a doubling of the child tax credit and a reduction of individual rates across the board. And a reduction of the corporate rate that, forgive me for remembering, democrats from Hillary on down have said needs to be done. What false wails of doom and destruction.
There was a study out of Princeton that looked at the correlation between the popularity of proposed legislation in the U.S. and the likelihood of it passing. They found that there was no correlation, the fitted line in a regression is flat and the slope is not significantly different from zero. When they do the same analysis with the preferences of elites (the wealthy class) on the x-axis, there is a strong and positive correlation. Only the views of the elites are ever reflected in legislation. The authors concluded that this is (some fancy term for) an oligarchy.
"Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy"
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
What this bill ensures is the end of infrastructure repair and advancement.
No new grids which can store solar energy in addition to dispensing fossil fuels.
No high-speed rail, enjoyed by most of the civilized world.
Crumbling bridges and roads, which are actually essential to commerce.
Unsafe school buildings and low pay for hassled teachers.
Underfunded, jammed courts incapable of guaranteeing the right to a speedy trial. or any ability to pay for one (provided free to the likes of EXXON and GE).
Old pipes seeping lead. Ancient subways gradually becoming unsafe.
Bye bye first world status.
We'll still have the biggest warehouse of unneeded massive war equipment though. Even as the real threat becomes cyberwar, malware and ransomware.
Let's balance what's left on the backs of children, students and the elderly.
Bravo, McConnell and Ryan. How do you think history will view your rudderless tenure. Maybe you'll get lucky and the Waltons will buy all publishing houses.
1
Can anyone tell retired people if the amount of social security income one DOES NOT have to claim as income has changed.
These is a form one uses to figure and determine the amount you must claim as income. If that calculation has changed to the disadvantage of seniors, there will be a rebellion in that regard.
1
Don't know why certain amendments weren't mentioned in the article such as allowing oil companies to explore and drill for oil in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, the fact that Medicare funding will be reduced by $25 BILLION next year or cuts in Medicaid spending. I would like to see all the provisions of the bill and not just the main points. The devil is in the details.
1
Depends on whether you're rich or poor:
"Senator Collins needs to step up. The northeast is getting slammed by this bill."
Some high-income taxpayers will pay more. Low-income taxpayers will pay less.
Taxpayers in NE states (and Pacific-Coast states) are more likely to have high incomes and own pricy homes. Many pay high property taxes and state/local income taxes. If they itemize deductions, they deduct these SALT from their taxable income. This reduces their income taxes, which means other taxpayers must make up the shortfall (or unborn generations, if the government finances the shortfall by borrowing.) Though it's often said that "blue states subsidize red states," this tax-shifting isn't counted as an "expenditure" of federal revenue in the blue states.
The tax bill will cap SALT deductions at $10,000 a year. Taxpayers who usually deduct more than $10,000 a year in SALT will be hurt by the cap. (I will be, for example.) The lower tax rates may not offset this deduction cap.
But taxpayers who DON'T deduct more than $10,000 a year in SALT won't be affected by this cap. That will be most taxpayers -- indeed, 70% don't itemize deductions at all, and most analysts predict that the higher standard deduction will induce 90% not to itemize.
Bottom line, no matter where you live, if you have a high income or pay high property taxes (or both), your federal income tax might go up even though rates will drop. If NOT, your federal income tax almost certainly will be lower.
1
I didn't believe it was possible, even for the current crop of republicans, but they're ALL morally corrupt! They know this tax bill is a disaster but they will still vote for it. Meanwhile seniors like me can look forward to cuts in Social Security and Medicare, systems into which we have put earned income. And we are not the only ones whose standards of living will be affected. The majority of Americans oppose this bill and still it will pass. We the People no longer matter in this country. What a sad state of affairs.
So, the GOP tax bill might actually get passed. This will be quite an achievement since: (1) the Democrats have been hysterical in their rantings against the bill, claiming it was a giveaway to the wealthy and a transfer of wealth from the poor & middle class; (2) the corporate media have been unstinting in their opposition to the bill, conforming nicely with the Democratic criticism and claiming that the middle class will gain nothing by the bill; (3) the poll numbers on the bill have been low presumably because of all of the negative publicity surrounding it's possible passage; and (4) the fact that the wealthy taxpayers, who pay most of the taxes, are in fact getting a tax cut, not a tax increase as promoted by the Democrats.
So, don't expect any Democratic votes on this measure since they are focusing on income inequality and this bill does not meet their agenda. But in the end it is all finally going to be about how this new tax system will work. If it works to stimulate economic growth and give the middle class more money to spend, it will eventually become very popular. If not, the Dems will score a big political victory to allow them to enact measures to redistribute funds from the wealthy to the poor.
It might be noted that the Reagan tax cut of 1981 was initially unpopular but eventually caused strong economic growth & led to his 1984 election win. Will history repeat itself with this new tax bill? Only time will tell.
1
All that needs to be understood here is that Republicans are irresponsibly borrowing money to the limit they can get away with as one party to pass it out as tax breaks to corporations and their wealthy donor class, while scattering some expiring tax breaks among the bystanders to distract and fool just enough of the rest of us that they can make their getaway. This is a robbery.
This is nothing Trump voters asked for. This is the reverse: the triumph of elites and the Washington/Wall Street swamp. This is class warfare of the most vicious sort.
The response, as a matter of justice, should be punitive: against the GOP at the polls, destroying it as a national party, and against corporations and the passive-income class, a tax hike so massive they will remember and think twice before unleashing their paid thieves and political mercenaries to try this ever again.
1
Everyone calm down. Run the numbers and you will mostly find that your taxes went down a little. Look at the corporate tax rate chart and see that the U.S. rates are now in line with the rest of the world and that we now have a territorial system like much of the rest of the world. The downsides are clear, more debt and complexity and the ability for closely held business owners to game the system. If this promotes growth and stops U.S. companies from fleeing, it may be a good thing. If it simply increases the deficit because there is not enough growth to pay for it, it will be a bad thing.
1
When the Republican Tax Plan plays out over the next few years and we witness how, at its heart, this $1.5 Trillion Plan was designed to greatly add benefit the already rich but barely deposit anything into the savings accounts of the Middle and Working Classes, I can only hope it will wake up those who have been holding on hoping their gamble on placing Trump in the White House would become one of those 'wins' Trump promised them, but instead realize they'd been duped.
And the Democrats need to get ready to be blamed for what some economists are predicting, namely the flat growth in wages and benefits, that it will remain an 'employers' market with little evidence of all that 'trickle down' that had been promised to accompany this latest 'Pie in the Sky' Republican Tax Plan.
Democrats will be accused of failing to reach across the aisle, accused of being Obstructionists, helping to stall the progress Trump's deregulation initiated.
I only hope the Democratic Party will get out in front of what's coming and not sit on their hands believing what they typically do, that 'common sense will prevail-the masses won't buy the spin'. And they need to start now, reveing up the notion predicting it didn't have anything to do with them, instead the Trillion Dollar Tax Plan imploded due to the top heavy gifting it provided for the rich, their getting all the 'birthday cake', and the rest of us getting to fight over some of the frosting stuck to the candles.
1
I don't understand how anyone can analyze the impact of the tax cuts on the middle and lower classes until the other shoe drops. As soon as the bill passes, the swamp will collectively be cured of their deficit amnesia and demand drastic cuts to expenditures, including medical, food and safety net programs like Social Security. The Republican handwriting has been on the wall for decades and it only took the trump chumps to fall for it.
The chart that accompanies "What's in the Final Tax Bill" notes that Republicans have eliminated the corporate AMT. That seems pretty significant. It doesn't take much finagling for a business to end up paying far less than 21%. That's why defenders of this bill will always emphasize the need for "competitive" tax rates but never acknowledge the reality that, once the army of lawyers and accountants have finished their work, corporations actually end up paying much less. Anyone who thinks corporations aren't going to do everything in their power to pay $00.00 is kidding themselves.
27
Heard from Trump:
"I knew Little Marco would come to our side sooner or later!".
9
It's almost enough to make one believe in Satan, the concentrated evil emanating from the looters and toxic wasters of the greed party.
Making America Small and Mean, Making China and everywhere else great. Helping Putin dismantle democracy, one spiteful block at a time.
17
This sugar-coated poison pill like tax bill gives dep and longlasting tax cut benefits to the rich while the symbolic tax reliefs planned for the common class are not only temporary but the last minute additions to win over the dissenting voices. A clear case of deception and accounts maneuvering indeed.
14
Nothing matters to present hedonists beyond the next five minutes, Professor. Awareness of that could be the guiding constant in Trump's life.
1
I’m personally really happy that my tax bracket has gone up so that the wealthiest could get their tax brackets lowered. Not.
16
I'm sure there is something for the financial banditos of Silicon Valley in this bill, even if it is of no help to you.
The Berlin Wall separated ideological myth from reality, the Republican tax bill will be the first brick out of the Supply Side ideological myth. The real reason Trump is king is that Supply Side had failed a large minority of worker class Americans. It's the Republican "establishment" Trumpers hated most for their "trickle down" lies.
7
No use complaining about Congress and what they are doing, we put these clowns there and are now paying the price. However, we all have another chance to change all this, at the next election - and I hope we do not forget who is responsible for this terrible new legislation, we must elect new members, and perhaps, more Democrats and Women.
It is a sorry state of affairs that our elected official are so blind and have separated themselves from the middle and poor classes. What is next???
24
The Times must follow the money to find out what's driving the Republicans to risk the wrath of a majority of voters to pass a tax plan that is so slanted to the wealthy. Would this tax bill have passed before Citizens United?
18
I applaud the limited deduction on state and local taxes. People will finally start to look at how their money is being spent or wasted and demand accountability of their local elected officials.
14
Because in CT you're exempt from paying local going wages to teachers, firemen, policemen and you don't need to build roads, highways, bridges or invest in mass transit or sell bond issues? Yes, CT has a problem. Like NY and NJ, your state and municipal workers also have retirement programs that set retirement benefits based on local wages - wages that are, of necessity, higher than most of the country. After all, we live in high-income states because we produce more. But this isn't going to be fixed by this tax bill. It can only be fixed by an overhaul of the system itself and even then, how do you claw back benefits paid to retirees who are now spending your tax dollars in Florida? Eliminating SALT deductions can't accomplish what you think it will. In the long run, what you're inviting is federal intervention and asking for federal aid - which will ultimately raise federal taxes.
2
Of course if this actually were to happen, every Republican would get tossed out on their ear, given little things like their having handed two clowns from Montana $300 million for work they're unqualifed to do, because they happen to be buds with a major government official.
Right because under our demand side food stamp president the economy did so amazingly well.
The good news about the tax plan is that the few Americans who still don’t have a big-screen TV will finally be able to go out and buy one.
The bad news is there isn’t any more good news about the tax plan.
That’s all there is folks.
11
We're looking forward to an all commercials all of the time internet now.
I don't have a big screen TV. I don't have any TV. Nor do I plan to get one.
I am thrilled about the tax plan. Amuse yourselves to death if you want, but do it on your own dime for a change, not mine.
Elimination of the personal exemption pretty much offsets the increase in the standard deduction. Why does no one mention that?
18
Because it isn't true. Quick. Which number is bigger? 8100 or 25000? Combined with the lower tax brackets, you still come out way ahead.
The phrase you use--pretty much offsets-is a meaningless string of words you hope will rile the under-informed.
It has been mentioned lots of times, but nothing stays in the public attention span for more than 5 minutes because, as a collective whole, the US suffers from extreme present hedonism.
1
Shouldn't this plan be more accurately titled The $1.5 Trillion Deficit Hike?
18
The US Congress is unsurpassed at inventing the most oxymoronic bill titles in the whole world.
Liberals ignore facts: the Bush tax cuts actually did grow the economy, so much so that even with the lower rates the amount of federal revenue produced in 2008 was $600 billion more than in 2002 before the tax cuts went into effect. Read it and weep:
https://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/recent_revenue
4
From 2001, when the first of the Bush tax cuts were implemented, to 2009, when the first of the tax changes made by Obama took effect, the US economy grew by 1.5 percent annually. The period included the worst recession in 80 years, and the federal deficit soared from $32 billion in 2001 to $642 billion in 2008 (not to mention the $1.5 trillion deficit of 2009 which was mostly due to Bush's policies). Many people did in fact weep.
1
Those are the numbers of a bubble. Sustained and responsible growth doesn't result in the kind of market meltdown and economic crash as we all saw in 2008.
2
DMMD
...and Conservatives are just foolish.
"Growing the economy" means nothing if all that growth ends up mildewing in a safe in the Bahamas.
And for tax cuts to work even in that limited way, they must be paid for by spending cuts. Which is why Bush left office with an $11 trillion deficit, in spite the extraordinarily modest growth you crow about.
No, Right boy, not welfare cuts or healthcare cuts or tuition cuts. Cuts in "unproductive" spending, such as that platinum toilet paper holder in McConnell's office, or the cone of silence in Zinke's office, or unpaid-for tax cuts.
As we have been seeing lately, those of us with eyes, a "bigger economy" in no way means a better or even a sustainable economy.
You boys are in the ruthless capitalist stage of squeezing every last penny, every ounce of effort out of America without putting anything back.
It'll look good for a little while but when you're done, Dan, you better hope you're among the ones who already own their secure ranches in New Zealand, or you'll see the wisdom of your closed little minds up close.
Tax break: the rich and the corporations are so burdened by taxes that they do not invest in creating jobs. Net neutrality: the telecom giants are so burdened by regulations that they cannot invest in infrastructure building to provide broadband to all. The common solution: give the rich, the corporations and the ISPs tons of money/added power as if suddenly they would become philanthropic entreprises and only work for the good of society. Are we that credulous?
15
Sadly, this is not governance, nor is it legitimate policy, nor an enlightened attempt to deal with our nation's many -- but resolvable -- problems, especially widening income disparity.
It is, instead, a craven reward to wealthy conservative interests, who want none of the above. What they do want is unregulated government controlled by American aristocrats, whose number one priority is the preservation and enhancement of their way of life. The rich have the means to pay for what they want, supported by recent Supreme Court decisions (CU and McDowell) that make graft, corruption and influence peddling the coin of the realm of Republican politics.
The only antidote, which has been steadily eroded by gerrymandering, voter suppression efforts and Republican agitprop, is to vote out the entire lot in 2018 and 2020.
14
The amount of thought that has gone into this legislation is shocking, and there's clearly many analyses that suggest it will be a disaster for the country as a whole. Why aren't there organized social protests?
15
Analysis is not reality, especially when formed in the crucible of bias. It is far removed from fact. Doing nothing is the only guarantee. This fear of experimentation we see in this country is astonishing, and beneath a noble people.
1
Perhaps only Trump is more duplicitous and media addicted than Rubio. With this vote, and the inevitable GOP push to cut entitlements, Rubio is on a clock as a Senator. And with no national support, hopefully we can be rid of him once and for all.
8
What happens to the myriad corporate tax loopholes? Do the loopholes remain that will allow corporations to reduce their effective tax rate to under 21%?
7
"The largest tax cut in the bill would be permanent, as would other corporate tax changes." What does permanent mean? Does that mean that the tax cut stays the same until it doesn't anymore when a new Congress increases it again when we can't pay down the deficit?
2
And how much of this tax package helps pay for our 21 year Afghanistan war? Goodbye, Medicare and social security...and how much of this tax burden will be individually experienced by our brave, caring members of Congress?
None.
Our government at work for itself!
10
I thought liberal hypocrisy was bad until I saw how loud and whiny they would get in the face of this tax bill.
But here they are, in the comments below, hiding behind the poor who will benefit from the bill in a lame attempt to oppose what they’re at least smart enough to see as the real threat this tax bill presents to their way of life.
And what is this threat? What is their way of life? It’s an end to the free ride they’ve enjoyed. It’s an end to the moral sanctimony that comes with living in a “generous” blue state, without actually having to pay for it. It’s an end to extended adolescences in grad school, paid for by working stiffs. It’s an end to rich liberals writing a big part of the cost for their overpriced, gentrified manors onto the rest of us. And it’s an end to the fiction that the ACA is so good that people would willingly choose it, with or without a mandate or the kind of choice a free market could offer.
I think hypocritical liberals know the writing is on the wall. They know they’re going to have to start paying for their lifestyle, and that their virtue signaling white privilege is no safeguard against Trump and a populist GOP. We plebes have our pitchforks, and we’re coming for them. Sure, we’ll get a few grand out of the deal, an economy that continues to roar, and more for our retirement via our 401Ks, but at least to me, the beauty of this bill is in driving up the cost of being a liberal hypocrite.
8
Sounds like you already have your uniform picked out for the upcoming civil war.
I'm guessing your retirement is a long way off. Had you had an actual pension plan (typically negotiated by your labor union), you would have been able to predict and plan financially for your older years. It remains to be seen how well you do with your 401K. Somebody's going to make money with it; I'm just not sure it's you.
From the tenor of your comment, I would say the Republicans have won the war. The propaganda war.
I think there's plenty of hypocritical pie around for you and your deregulation let-them-eat-cake crowd to have a generous slice. (Remember those revolving dessert cases you used to see in diners? Those big slabs of cake and pie, dripping with frosting, bubbling over with juicy apples or cherries? You just had to have a piece. Sometimes it was good; but, sometimes it was nothing but air. It looked better than it tasted. What a disappointment. I guess that's the risk you take. Good luck. Good luck to all of us. We're going to need it.)
3
Butch Zed,
I'm a liberal and I'm against people who get free rides.
Which liberals are getting free rides?
Is it only people in NYC that are getting free rides? Only liberals in NYC?
BTW, I went to graduate school and I have more than paid back in taxes the money I got from the taxpayers as a grad student.
1
Best comment ever in this paper. Take the paucity of recommendations it is bound to suffer as evidence of its veracity. The unpopular opinion is usually based on something unassailably true.
Just checked my figures and this bill means I'll pay several thousand less in taxes. That's money in pocket, thank you GOP. I'm a NYer who makes just over 100K income
7
I'm a retired New Yorker with about $70,000 income. My tax bill is going UP by about $3000.
1
At last Rubio got a small bone to naw on but Corker just sold out the middle class like the rest of the Republican Party. The so called lobbyists (bribers) were descending on Congress to remind the lawmakers of their need for campaign contributions next year. That usually does the trick.
4
Student debt in the US stands at around 1.3 trillion dollars. Forgiving that debt would inject at least one trillion dollars into the economy, far more than the tax "plan" being shoved down our throats.
9
I agree. We should do both.
Once this bill passes, the United States will have officially become an Oligarchy. This is the tipping point. Capitalism has failed. I predict there will be some sort of populist revolt in the coming year. The best and most peaceful way is through the 2018 midterm elections and to have the Democrats win overwhelming. But if that doesn't happen, I do fear there will be violence. We need a social and economic model that looks more like Germany or Denmarks.
7
The tax bill enacted will drive up interest rates for home buyers and credit..this additional "monetary" burden will increase the "hidden" taxation on all Americans. As the deficit grows, the money must be borrowed..and now the US owes China nearly 800 billion (reference CBO). With many regulations in particular those with Wall Street..see another pending "doom" ala 2008.
Growth is good..but sustained growth in all parts of the market must be balanced...the decrease in the corporate taxes does not equate to more jobs, increased wages or money being repatriated from overseas..these are all voluntary on corporations.
What should of been included is tax benefits for corporation that hire and train many of those displaced by offshore manufacturing and technology.
This depends on the theory the Republicans will remain in power under Trump..I suspect Trump will not finish his term for all the reasons many suspect.
And the stock market..sure great continuing news, but wait for the correction..it could be breathtaking...
5
Why do Don Jr, Eric, Jared, and Ivanka smile like cats with a bowl of cream? They know that bill is a $1 billion gift to the Trump family (and others like them).
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to insist that they are "fighting for working families." Most of these Republicans have ever met a working family, now would they want to.
3
Deregulate business, lower taxes on the rich, run up the deficit and set the country on a path toward another great recession. All that's left is start a war and we can party like its 2008.
7
This will help ensure Republicans keep control of both houses in 2018. Anyone who works for a living, owns a business or has a retirement account will appreciate the new rules. They know that once Democrats take over it will be all about raising taxes again and "redistributing income" from the productive people to the welfare class.
8
What does it say about our country if we won't fund the Children's Health Insurance Program, but we will give wealthy corporations a 46% tax break. The corporations have been doing very well since President Obama fixed the economy, they don't need our help, but a sick child does. Defeat the tax bill and fund CHIP.
5
We should not be passing major tax legislation when every member of the republican party is in their last term in office.
The people that supported and continue to support ryan, mcconnell, rubio, etc have this to show for their vote!
The working class will see no benefit only harm from this bill.
The debt that will result from this "act" will obliterate any funds for infrastructure spending the minute it is signed.
I dare to think how any member of the GOP will be able to explain this away. No public hearings, no tax policy support or endorsements from reputable planners and zero democratic support - so this clearly is not something that represents the will of the people
4
Taxes are a business expense that gets added to every gallon of gas, loaf of bread, or pair of shoes. This bill is a good start but further cuts are needed.
1
A comment and a question:
1. Comment: One more bad thing in this bill is expansion of the 529 Education provisions to include K through 12 private school education. This will put further economic pressure on public education and encourage result in yet greater disparity between the rich and poor in this country.
2. Question: I have seen no mention of deduction for IRA contributions and therefore assume there is no change. Correct?
As more detail has been revealed the full scope of the perverse nature of the GOP is all the more apparent. Virtually every one of the provisions slants the playing field further towards the rich and powerful.
4
All of those self-serving Republican congressmen who sign on to making our children future debtors will be condemned for their actions by those children. You can't cut taxes and build the Fence and the Military and the school system without money in the Treasury. This house of cards will collapse. There is not enough capital in the capital to support it. Sure, everybody will get a bigger standard deduction. WOWEE!. But that will not be nearly enough to pay for increased out of pocket health care and education and care for Grandma and rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. This Congress is turning us into a second rate, third world country, We will have a few billionaire oligarchs like Trump who will live in luxury in Mar-a-Lago and all the rest of us poor slobs will be happy if we can scrape enough together each week to feed our family and pay for the electricity to cool our homes during the heat waves produced by all the carbon dioxide induced global warming.
6
If you itemize you lose ALL PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS. If you want the exemptions you have to take the Standard Deduction and NOT Itemize. All personal exemptions are gone. If you have children and have itemized deductions that exceed the "Standard deduction" of $24,000, you can no longer deduct personal exemptions which were roughly $4000 for each dependent. It is an all or nothing deal. If you itemize you lose the $24000. Plus senior citizens lose the "over 65" deduction. The child tax credit doesn't come close to the personal exemptions we have now.
5
In all the talk of who wins and who loses, we seem to have forgotten that the primary purpose of taxation is to raise enough money to support the government's work. This bill fails that most basic test. It raises too little money and will therefore leave the nation in even greater debt.
7
I've only just noticed (shame on me!) that the increase in deficit spending this bill generates is funded by borrowed money. I can not understand why committing the US to a further $1.5 trillion in debt, plus interest, for the immediate gratification of one percent of the population is a good thing. The GOP proposes borrowing this money from our foreign debt holders (mainly the Chinese) and justifying it on the thin, vain assumption that this gift to the corporations will pay for itself. It never has before. What hypocrisy allows the GOP legislators to play deficit hawk with one side of their mouths and claim with the other that tax cuts for the already-well off, corporations and individuals, bought with borrowed money is an act of virtue?
5
Areas of high property taxes and local taxes are going to pay way more federal taxes. That means the rich of NYC. No more deducting that big property tax bill. This will no doubt effect the value of your property too. But if the value of the real estate goes down then the assessment will go down too. That would mean paying less property tax right? Or will NYC raise the mill rate? This tax bill has set up a ugly battle between high tax municipalities and rich residents.
4
Once again we learn that only Democrats have to pay for debt reduction. Republicans are free to run up the debt as much as they like. It was true for Reagan, Bush II, and now Trump. Despicable.
20
I am scrambling together some cash to pay a local property tax bill due in 2018 before the First of the year. But to do so, will sell some stock that appreciated nicely in 2017, boosted by the tax bill, to be taxed at the long term capital gains rate.
Trump giveth, and Trump taketh away.
2
Trump never gave. These are Obama's policies that we are still living under. Once this tax bill passes it will be all Trump.
4
Sorry, RM. The new tax bill won't let you prepay your local tax. Trump only taketh.
Ha! $1.5 trillion is the price the American tax payer will pay for this Christmas present. Plus interest.
16
That's how much extra climate change alone is likely to cost the US federal government over the next two or three years. And that isn't even budgeted.
1
The bill is a recipe for crippling debt and inflation.
13
The push for tax cuts geared towards corporations as the wealthy is built on the faux claim that corporations and the wealthy are so overburdened and hindered, that they don’t have the bandwidth to create jobs and pay a decent wage. During this tax discussion, there should be two numbers that are peppered throughout the American public, on the airwaves 24/7 to help give context: In the last four quarters, US after tax corporate profits are nearly 7 trillion dollars, record levels both in terms of size and share, and up 400% over the past 15 years. By all accounts large corporations are doing well and are rife with cash. The second number is 400 billion, the amount in federal taxes corporations paid last year. The Trump/GOP tax plan will drop this to ~250 billion, 150 billion in tax savings.
Returning to the claim by the GOP that tax cuts are desperately needed to free up Corporations so that they have the bandwidth to invest and give raises. In essence, their argument is that at 7 trillion in corporate profits, corporations are shackled and so burdened that that can’t create jobs and can’t give raises...but if they instead had 7.15 trilllion, they would open up the coffers and start creating jobs and giving raises. 7 trillion = woe is me, we’re too strapped to invest. 7.15 trillion = okay NOW we’ll start trickling down the wealth.
What a joke. Whose buying this nonsense? Anyone who thinks corporations don’t already have the cash to invest now are kidding themselves.
24
The trick is to get people to compartmentalize. They hear the 35% number and it sounds unfair compared to the rest of the world's corporations. If they hear the 7 trillion number you cite (and most Republican voters probably haven't) they don't connect it to the 35% number. They also don't connect the term effective tax rate with any components of this conversation.
Most of the American public fails to connect the dots, but the Republican base seems especially susceptible to this problem.
The Republican strategists who want to starve the beast, who despise programs that actually help people, know exactly what they're doing.
1
The religion, the guns, the Balkanized laws and courts, and the failure to adopt the Metric system used by the whole rest of the world says this country stinks as a place to manufacture no matter what bribes they offer to relocate here.
There's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. Dems need to spend the next week telling Americans what this bill, only just revealed today, will mean to them in their daily lives. Anything less is dereliction of their solemn duty.
15
Leigh, listen to yourself for a minute.
Surely you know that our Democrats are all essentially the same as the Republicans, in terms of wealth and the benefits to be realized from this tax heist, consequently the nearly complete silence in their ranks.
They can't believe their good fortune, made even better by the fact it's the Republicans orchestrating the heist, leaving in place the false perception the Dems had nothing to do with it.
Silence is the worst kind of acquiescence, and clearly indicates complicity.
1
Vote them out 2018. They are not representing the people, only their donors.
25
How about a tax bill that starts by putting $1000 in the pockets of couples earning $125,000 and $75,000, $1500 for couples earning between $75,000 & $50,000 and $2000 for everyone else?
Start from this premise and work backwards, financing the cut by Reinstating the estate tax, leaving the the top marginal rate at 39.6% , lowering the corporate rate to 25% , increasing the capital gains tax by 5%, and taxing hedge fund managers at the personal tax rate. All deductions for SALT adjusted up or down to maintain the initial premise. Same with child tax credits and the individual mandate—do they add to or subtract from the goals as set forth in the initial paragraph?
Those at the top can easily pay the estate tax, the same or slightly higher personal rate. Those CEO’s who wouldn’t raise their hands to Mnuchin's ask of whether they would be hiring and re-investing if the corporate rate were lowered might raise their hands in favor of more Americans with an increase in spending power for their products. It’s profits, stupid, not lower tax rates that motivate corporations.
5
Don't you know why the carried interest provision exists? It is a source of money for plutocrats to bribe politicians.
Republicans are despicable. Trump said Gillibrand would do anything for a campaign contribution. What about the republicans? They're throwing the whole country under the bus to appease their wealthy donors.
15
Interesting how many liberal NYT readers believe anything that benefits the rich is automatically bad. This tax bill is not bad for low income families. Far from it. It benefits the same low-income Medicaid recipients who were helped by Obamacare. Then, it was a great thing to help low income people. What happened, liberals?
The loudest complaints are from those wealthy enough to live in high tax states. No one is crying for them, I can assure you. Most people cannot afford $20K-$50K real estate taxes. The average real estate tax bill in the US is something like $3,500.
10
I’m not in favor of this tax bill because it’s a give away to the rich. Far from it. I’m laughing all the way to the bank with the money I’ll get back. Then I’m most likely going to reclassify my business as an LLC and get 23% off the top on my income. Did I need the break? No. Am I going to buy more goods and services? No.
So why am I against it? Because the projected growth numbers won’t bear out. It will add more than $1T to the debt something, by the way, the GOP is supposed to be against. And it will add to the debt. See Kansas. And if there is a recession you’ll see that deficit balloon. Trump will approach Obama numbers. But hey, he’s the self-proclaimed King Of Debt.
It’s also a fallacy that the repatriation of earnings by corporations will be plowed back into wages. Some $ may, but most will be plowed back into dividends and stock buybacks. Again, paying me but not those who most need the relief - the middle and lower earners.
Finally the corporate cuts are permanent while the individual cuts expire.
So me, I’ll make out like a bandit. For the middle and lower earners, the Administration is saying “Let then eat cake”.
Welcome to the Court of Louie XVI, Trump and GOP style.
7
I'm kind of thinking that the very definition of being "rich" means you don't need additional benefits.
As for average real estate taxes, that number is without value as is a large portion of the real estate in this country.
And just to put this out there, does anyone actually believe the supply-side trickle down fantasy that corporations are going to take their tax break (if indeed they pay any taxes) and give it to their employees? They're going to take that money and buy back stock in their companies because the guys who make that decision are often compensated in shares and they would become even richer by driving up the value in the corporation's stock price.
1
There goes the NY housing market
Short-term gain, long-term pain.
4
I hope when these Republicans go home for ANOTHER break, that they make time to watch the movies, Scrooge and It’s a Wonderful Life. I think that when they age and cannot sleep at night, they will toss and turn, and they will feel the terrible guilt about what they have done to our country and its people this December of 2017. What empty souls these people have! How do they look at themselves in the mirror? Do they feel no shame? I feel like we are living in Germany in the 30’s. I used to have such hope for our nation when Barack Obama was President--not perfect but so elegant in intellect, speech and emotion. There is not one Republican who is comparable. I take some comfort in knowing history will treat him well.
7
Is anyone else tired of the constant dance performed by the likes of Rubio, Collins, Portman & Lindsay Graham - trying to portray themselves as caring, reasonable people who can connect with average voters, while all the time knowing they are owned by their corporate masters who give not a hoot for regular people. How anyone who is not a millionaire or a Bannon-admirer could still be supporting Republicans at this point is a mystery.
13
This couldn't come at a worst time. Economy is at full employment almost. Companies and therefore large investors get a YUUGE income gain without proportional raises in investments. Nobody should believe this is going to give GDP growth a shot in the arm !
3
After all of this, keep in mind that DJT came in third in the last election.
More people either voted for Hillary or did not vote at all compared to the number of people that voted for DJT .
Everyone must vote in every election. The election was in 2016, now we see the consequences!
9
Oh the lie underneath it all they use to justify this bill. Pro growth? Reagan and Bush tax cuts didn't grow the economy. The cuts under Brownback in KS sent their economy sliding down hill. there is absolutely no empirical evidence that cutting taxes stimulates growth. All evidence is to the opposite. Even Milton Friedman shortly before he passed in the Guardian stated he'd taken his theories too far. No independent economist, GOP or Dem, lib or conservative today, after all the empirical evidence, none of them say this will have any meaningful stimulus.
A few weeks back, Gary Cohen spoke at a Wall St Journal Breakfast for business leaders. He asked them how many would put these tax savings back into their businesses. Almost no hands went up. In a more recent poll businesses were asked how they would use the savings. In order of popularity it was pay down debt, stock buy backs, dividends and last, invest it in the biz. the GOP knows they're lying. Yet there are ignorant people who believe them.
Finally, It is extremely limited how much stimulus can grow the economy if at all. The last numbers I heard were that there and 7 mill jobs listed and about the same number of people unemployed. Why aren't these jobs being filled? 2 reasons, because the people available don't have the skills for the jobs and/or they don't live where the jobs are. So even if the GOP and Trump were telling the truth, which they aren't, where are the people to fill these job found?
3
Well, Republicans in Congress are now behaving exactly as Republicans in Kansas and North Carolina have been, which essentially is to muscle through their one-sided policies with total disregard and disdain for the other half of their legislatures. Beyond engendering enmity within our republic these policies will exacerbate the tensions within our society. It's getting harder and harder to see a way forward that does not involve another violent convulsion to break the nation's fever.
6
If you're not in the top bracket: Merry Fake Christmas, but forget about a happy holiday without a headache ever again!
2
Presented without debate, hearings, or objective analysis, the Trump GOP Party overhauls our tax system and creates 1.4 Trillion Dollars in more debt on top of the mountain already owed. And this is the so called party of fiscal responsibility? Really? Actually they need to be renamed the Trump Dotard Burglar party as they enter Congressional buildings each day with the intent to commit theft from the majority of Americans while they line their pockets with Corporate donations. Meanwhile our Airports, roads, bridges continue to crumble, along with any hope for the middle and working class getting any real increase in salaries with the tax increases built into this new law. What a complete joke on us all!
4
If only the poor and middle group pay taxes, as this bill appears to expect, then there will be no progress, no money for improvements (or more huge military) just lots of debts to be paid for by our grandchildren. Taxes are the way we pay for the things we can't do for ourselves, and the moneybags are not going to improve roads (except maybe to their private airfields) or feed the hungry. Charity will take up the slack according to Republicans, but the poor need, can't give, charity, and the rich won't give more than a trifle.
1
When Republicans promise their members, like Collins, for a vote will they follow through?
The majority of Americans will end up paying for this tax gift for the wealthy and corporations at the slightest burp in the economy brings it crashing down. Why you ask, when it crashes and burns;
1. Medicaid, gone!
2. Medicare, gone!
3. Social Security, gone!
4. CHIPS, gone!
5. Anything that helps the poor and elderly, GONE!
8
I guess now we will see if wanna be Marxists aka "progressives" spend our money better than the people that actually earn it. The GDP will tell the story, and we are already starting to see the answer.
1
They resent it when Americans are allowed to keep their own money. To me, that's a warped mindset. After 8 years of Obama, who believed everything flowed from the Federal Government (versus businesses and individuals) it's a major turnaround. Getting government out of the way is long overdue.
We are already seeing the Trump effects. Businesses are getting relief from brutal regulatory overreach (just ask any compliance person at a large bank about their increased workload under Obama). Sure, the most objectionable regulation cuts will be showcased, but there are thousands of regulations added in the last few years that have chocked businesses.
It's one thing to keep us safe. It's quite another to micromanage every aspect of a company's behavior.
1
I wish someone would explain to me how one Republican senator can stop everything, but 48 Democratic senators can't stop anything.
9
'Funny' how they are all incredulous and can't believe their own luck that they really will all fall in line doing such a bad, bad thing and keep shuddering at the prospect some of them will find their heart and their spine in the last minute and vote for the right thing, so just to go sure their margin of victory for cruelty and pain will suffice, they all line up for the stampede to vote for the wrong thing. (And to go sure they'll be richly rewarded and showered with bribes from their donors?)
As I observed before, I more or less expect Vice-President Mike Pence to get so overwhelmed by the inglorious prospect of possibly breaking the tie for this greatest wealth grab in the history of mankind, enhanced with a veritable smorgasboard of torture instruments to apply on the less fortunate, that he'll suffer a heart attack from utter overload of drooling sadistic glee on his way.
What a spectacle in suit and tie, as the law of the land gets written by the big donor's lobbyists.
5
Next year, as a middle-class NYC resident (read that as living "uptown," kids in public school, and a one-bathroom apartment), I will pay thousands more in taxes as retaliation for exercising my constitutional right to vote against Trump and Republicans generally. Oh, but wait, I forgot that they did something to ameliorate the burden on the blue-state folks who make more than $400,000 a year (and donate to campaigns). So, this is simply undemocratic class warfare, killing two birds with one stone. I could spit.
7
With the end of net neutrality and all these corporations swimming in money for character assassination, US politics can only get more toxic to sane people.
5
The senators who "object" to some of features of this terrible tax bill remind me of the "concern trolls" that one finds on Interned discussion boards, The "trolls" express "concern" about your side of a discussion, but really don't care. They are just styling in order to make themselves look good. Notable tax bill trolls would have to include Senators Corker, Johnson (WI), Collins, and Rubio. Now that they have had their moment in the spotlight, they will quietly vote Yea and move on to their next "concern."
5
The Republican congress has given me a new understanding and appreciation for Dante's Inferno.
The details of the bill out of reconciliation listed in the 12:49am, 12/16/17 NYT story show a pretty tepid bill, which for that reason, will probably squeak through. Most of the jaw dropping outrageous provisions were watered down or not included. It's now a bill which evokes little more response than a yawn, filled with goodies for "savvy" purple holdouts to show their constituents. Like much in Trumplandia, the aftermath will peak in dramatic reaction, and then become forgotton, eclipsed by the next new scandal.
1
They always cave, and they play journalists like violins.
The press swoons at the "moderates" and then WHAM.
It's Lucy and the football over and over again.
2
Rubio is not yet a “made man in D.C.. He’s still looking for his big pay day, so naturally a promise of a well fitted retirement paddock from some wealthy patron or corporation came along to buy his vote.
2
Fantastic!
1
I am seeing television commercials telling me how good this bill is for middle-class people and that I ought to call my representative to tell him thanks for giving me this tax cut. These people insult the intelligence of the American people.
We know that this is a give-away to the rich and to large corporations. They will throw middle-class people a few crumbs and tell us to be grateful. Meanwhile, they are adding at least a trillion dollars to the national debt. Look at your calendar and see how long it takes for them to come after Medicare, Medicaid, Disability insurance, and Social Security.
We the People re-elected GOP senators who stole a Supreme Court seat. Did we really expect integrity from this gang of liars and thieves?
We get the government we deserve.
4
What gross hypocrisy! - This bill is about as non-Republican as a bill can be yet it appears the Republicans will pass it regardless.
Constantly campaigning for small government and decentralization - in capping and limiting SALT deductions this bill attacks the very construct of this country and our constitution – subsidiarity - the concept that most issues are best handled by state and local government and not by D.C. It's the basis of our Constitution - it is the reason that the only powers given by the Founders to the federal government were so tightly defined - all else left to the states.
Our tax structure followed suit. Remove the deduction and you weaken state and local government ability to tax and raise funds for local activities - education, water, sewage, roads, bridges, transit systems, healthcare, welfare, etc.
Already stressed, this bill further complicates state and local government's ability to raise taxes/funds needed to handle state and local problems. We'll all become more dependent on D.C., not less. Doesn't sound very Republican to me. And I'm a Republican.
3
You brought even more clarity to an already dismal situation
Predictions:
- On average middle-class families get a small tax cut but really depends on where you live.
- Corporations will repatriate some funds but most will go into dividends and stock buybacks.
- Worker wages will not increase by the desired %'s.
- GDP will remain in a 1.5% to 3% range (outside a recession) for the foreseeable future.
- Debt will increase by over $1 trillion.
Summary: Big win for corporations, good win for wealthy, minor win for middle & lower class but it depends where you live.
Message to Trump: You can fool some of the people some of the time (your 2016 win) but you can't fool but you can fool all of the people all of the time (your 2020 loss, if Mueller doesn't get you first).
1
Looks like Corker sold his soul to the devil. Said he would never vote for any bill that increases the deficit. This thing at a minimum would add one trillion over ten yrs. and probably much more.
4
Did anyone think Rubio or Corker had an ounce of integrity?
Sorry.
5
Then this can be repealed in 2021. All the Democratic party needs to do is take back both houses of congress and win the presidency in 2020.
3
When Corporations start paying 40% less taxes who do you think will make up for it, you.
2
Ha. When -not if- the market crashes...who is gonna cry then?
When are Americans gonna see trumps taxes???
3
The most appalling of the turncoats, Senator Corker, has completely destroyed any credibility that he earned with many Democrats for speaking out. I understand his yes vote means he still has political aspirations but who could possibly support him now. As for Senator Rubio, I understand he still wants to President. His shallow performance with regard to the childcare tax credits illustrates how small he is in character. Our Nation is being destroyed by DJT and his sycophants. Decency and morality are dead.
4
How does the GOP justify such a huge giveaway to corporations (who are cash rich), real estate developers (who's "income" streams are pass-throughs), and the children of the top .1%?
All of this wealth is going into their pockets (just wait and watch the growth of the wealth-gap over the next few years) and not into the improvement of infrastructure that would actually improve the productivity of the nation!
The GOP will claim that we should trust them, ignore all legitimate economists and every future budgetary evaluation, that the money will trickle down - baloney.
Trump is certainly a happy guy - he can claim a tax over hall (though it isn't even close), that his income will be hammered (his benefit - in the billions of dollars), and that the middle class will be thrilled (they won't - they're not as stupid as he is). Given the destruction this administration has visited on the US and the world in just one year, we can't survive three more.
4
"For far too long, Washington has ignored and left behind the American working class." -- Marco Rubio
If he cared about the American working class, he wouldn't be signing this abomination passing for a tax bill. What a phony!
I am a grown man who who does not cry easily, but I am on the verge of tears for my country whose democratic institutions are being destroyed by the G.O.P. with the tacit approval of a nincompoop minority that as a result of gerrymandering, voter suppression and the electoral college system has political power out of proportion to it size.
7
They have all gone crazy! The huge deficit they are creating is going to impact our recovered economy. GOP never learns from previous GOP administrations, Regan, Bush I and II...that cool-aid must be intoxicating.
2
I’m not sure anyone has really read this entire bill. If I ever hear any Republican bring up our National Debt again in the future, all I have to say is “Why did you vote for the tax bill”?
5
Another march on Washington needed. Then a sit in, in halls of congress and more than a million person march.
2
Can the NYT use another word other than “victory” to describe the status of this bill? It can only be fairly seen as a win or victory for a political party since there are clearly many l losers and innocent victims resulting from this highly partisan attempt to satisfy the donor class rather than the needs of the American people and our economy.
Further the use of “victory” and “win” as a staple of political reporting further adds to dividing citizens along party lines rather than understanding issues that require their attention as voters. It’s how we lose the Constitutional concept of “we the people”.
3
Why anyone thought that people like Rubio, Corker, McCain would vote against the tax bill. Rubio was ridiculed and insulted by Trump. Both McCain and Corker were insulted by Trump. But all of them continue to support Trump and the tax bill that only help the rich people. Do they really want to help the poor? Of course, not. But unfortunately, the same group of poor will vote for them.
5
It was a preplanned gesture on little Marco's part. That acting should win an Academy Award if not an Emmey for best fake political drama.
4
rubio i knew would fold like a lawn chair, corker was a bit of a surprise. If a republican ever did the right thing by the working poor, it would be Extraordinary.
7
Corker and Rubio were given ski masks ( which they couldn't refuse ) from the rest of the ''gang'' of republicans.
Nothing can get in the way of the heist of the middle class and the poor.
4
Amazing how fast congressional Republicans can move after they've been warned to act fast or lose millions in campaign support from the 1%.
5
The only legislative accomplishment Trump will have achieved in his first year is to unleash greed in epic proportions.
5
The most crushing piece of this tax heist is that it removes the individual mandate from the ACA.
This will be hung around the neck of EVERY Republican that runs for office for the foreseeable future. To knowingly defund an existing healthcare benefit from millions to help corporations that funded the GOP is beyond unconscionable.
This is the last act of a dead party!
3
U.N. envoy on poverty Philip Alston got it right:
“The American Dream is rapidly becoming the American Illusion since the US now has the lowest rate of social mobility of any of the rich countries.”
4
What a sham! So much for all those years spent demanding fiscal responsibility and the GOPS's Chicken Little cries of "The debt is rising!" Apparently, the national debt only matters when social programs are in the offing. It certainly doesn't matter when giveaways to corporate and wealthy paymasters are at stake. I will begin my countdown now to see when the debt matters again and Social Security and medical aid are placed on the chopping block. I am betting on a February return of the GOP's brand of chicken-like behavior. No offense to chickens.
1
And we all knew that when push comes to shove, that "Little Marco" would fold and fall into line and that Bob Corker despite the fact that he's running away from Congress still doesn't have the decency to vote against this bill aimed at enriching the rich and further impoverishing the rest of us.
2
Quel surpirse. Rubio, Collins, and Corker, like their predecessor in thespian antics, John McCain, got to strut and fret their pathetic bit of theater, then fall into line like the good wooden soldiers they are. Feh.
7
A large scarlet T should hang around the neck of every Republican who votes for this monstrosity. As someone who has hung around for 86 years I scarcely recognize this country anymore. Perhaps this can of worms will be the epitaph for the Republican Party, We can only hope.
3
This is just one more reason not to trust any Republican, especially those like Corker, they all lie!
5
This is just one more reason not to trust any politician: they all lie.
Fixed that for you, became if you think Democrats are any different you’re mistaken. They’ll all lie to get what they want.
1
"I have seen it." Does he read by telepathy now?
Rubio's a joke. His 'position' was just posturing for his own political ends. The idea that the likes of Corker and Collins will 'save us' is sad. This fix is in, and the people of the USA are the pasty losers.
8
Here we go again. Dems will swoop in after so many years and actually start to fix the deficit, all the while the Thugs will be beating them over their heads with with the old ‘tax-and-spend Democrats’ line and how they’re the fiscally irresponsible party—and in this stupid electorate, it will work!
2
"...it will be monumental".
No it will be colossal, colossally stupid.
This will crush the economy and the republicans are so stupid they don't even know it. They must be counting on us not caring. They must think it's the old days when we weren't paying attention.
Dems are no better.
We are paying attention. We already know it's a mistake. Go ahead and reduce the disposable income of NY CT NJ MA CA. Watch what it does to the US economy.
They didn't even stop to think what %of the US those states are in :
GDP contribution.
Income.
Spending.
Population.
Meanwhile, the dems fiddle by the fire.
Everyone of them on both sides should get fired.
Then what we do is a full on effort for:
Term limits.
No money in lobbying.
A hard and small cap on campaign donations.
We need to take the lucrative nature out of politics.
Then they have the nerve to use our money to settle sex abuse.
Are we done yet with these clowns, or not?
5
It’s garbage. Don’t buy it! No courage points for Rubio or Corker. It’s a sham grandstand play to look like good guys amidst the GOP. Bogus regardless of the small change. It’s fine but the rest of the bill is junk dumped on the backs of Americans!
Payback will be due. GOP has no respect for us or us for them. Where will McConnell spend his windfall
Rand rumors of resignation make sense. Rich!!!
2
Marco Rubio, I hope you read these comments, you no good sellout. Save your pathetic grandstanding for someone who cares. Never had my vote. Never will.
5
The hope for Flake, Murkowski, McCain, Collins, Corker to come to the rescue as heroes of decency and compassion fades. Lights out.
2
America: Get ready for the final Republican act, the dismantlement of the social safety net. To the Deplorables who voted for Trump, I hope you get exactly what you deserve.
5
A pop-up doll has more spine than these "conscientious" Republicans faking a big show for their image, then walking. All cavers, in fealty to their party and its major donors. The GOP: Giveaways On Principle.
3
If the majority of the American people don't want this bill, then who does? This is a blow to democracy.
1
Surveys tell another story. It's neither a "blow to democracy" nor reviled, as it is on the coasts, where liberals are loathe to see Trump succeed.
1
The majority of Americans don’t want this tax bill. They do want affordable health care, net neutrality, consumer protection, protected public lands... the list goes on.
This administration doesn’t care what the people want. Government of the corporation, by the corporation, and for the corporation had never been more blatant.
1
Let’s see how the CBO will score this bill. For shame GOP
1
Corker and Rubio were given ski masks ( which they couldn't refuse ) from the rest of the ''gang'' of republicans.
Nothing can get in the way of the heist of the middle class and the poor
2
The death wish of the GOP in passing this tax bill will certainly come true in 2018.
The mask has been removed and we all can see the ugly soul of the Republican party...
3
I feel that Collins and Mc Cain will eventually vote against it.
This so-called victory is so far afield, hardly enough words to describe. Just another example of head cheeto preening for the photogs, signing his Big-Boy papers and pretending to be accomplishing something. Sad, really.
1
All aboard the TRUMP TRAIN!!
GOP can say they (a) passed tax reform, (b) repealed individual mandate, (c) confirmed Gorsuch AND a ton of fed judges, & (d) got rid of job-killing regulations. On paper, that’s not a bad 2017 agenda.
5
The response to Trump's success has been to double down on criticism. The greater the vitriol from his critics, the more success he is having. They despise him so much vehemently because he's successful.
The President is selling this bill as "great for Americans, great for jobs, great for the Middle Class."
We aren't that dumb.
Bills that are this "great" are not dropped for review late on a Friday night. That's reserved for people leaving office "to spend more time with their family," and other such news.
By the way, if the Trump administration is so busy draining the swamp, then exactly why have all of the Lobbyists and all of the Republican legislators been able to see this bill behind closed doors for a month? Yet the public gets to see it only over the weekend before the vote?
Like I said, we aren't that dumb. The entire Republican party needs to be expunged in 2018, if not sooner.
3
RE: It was still unclear how they were going to pay for the entire package, which can add no more than $1.5 trillion to the deficit if it is to pass without Democrat support. Despite the bill’s $1.5 trillion price tag,
Tax cuts neither cost nor need to br paid for. Tax cuts save the taxpayer money. Government spending needs to be paid for. The NYT's view is so upside down / backward.
These people have no conviction. No values, only they want to have big money to support their life style.
SAD
2
Is there not an ethical Republican amongst them? This is a total sell-out to the rich.
These guys will get coal in their stockings for Xmas, boos at their next congressional pray breakfast, and regrets from Saint Peter when they are called.
1
Glad to see the bill is going through; it will be a major stimulus for the US economy. Though not flawless, a solid overhaul of the US tax code was long overfue.
2
Yes, the only ones who cannot see that this was necessary for economic growth are those steeped in partisan politics.
Yes, perhaps the US can aspire to be like Hong Kong where people live in cages.
Washington truly is a swamp pit! Watch: January will bring on the talks to cut SS and Medicare,
The reality is that the majority of billionaires are liberals. They love it...
3
The hypocrisy totally blows me away.
Hey Senators Collins, McCain, & Murkoswki: remember when you took that stand against the healthcare repeal?
Neither do we.
1
Corker's spine had a short shelf life.
1
As a guy who just bought a Powerball ticket, I say, bring it.
2
OK people - time for TOWN HALLS
1
Evil won. 62 million Americans voted for it. The plutocrats won the Republican lottery.
3
I can't wait to see their obnoxious smiles wiped from their smug faces when they get thrown out of office. 70% of the public does not want this bill.
3
Phil, Phil. Do you seriously believe the rest of the country feels the same way as bitter wealthy coastals who will lose part of their real estate tax deductions?
3
Wrong. The public does want it. Just not the public you are hearing about.
3
Millions of middle class and poor people will eventually be hurt by this bill when they start chipping away at Medicare and Medicaid while and not fixing the infrastructure. The whole bill is based on unrealistic and unsustainable growth. But you can probably take care of yours. Good for you.
This is still appalling. The GOP are a bunch of sell outs.
2
Brooks and Shields were not impressed with this Tax reform bill tonight on PBS. Neither was Paul Krugman. So it looks like this will secure a 2018 massacre of GOP. Followed up by Don Cons eviction and ejection from The White House in 2020. Based on that...Bring it!
3
I wonder if Little Marco will mention this grandstanding on his next run for President.
2
Tax scam. Axing net neutrality. Unrepentant sexual assaulter in the White House. Lies about collusion. 2018 will be a rude awakening for a whole lot of incumbents who enabled all this skullduggery.
3
Great news for most every American from the low income to the high income!!!
Allowing the $10,000 for SALT and RE taxes was a brilliant compromise - really puts it out there on the hypocrisy of fat cat Dems. Dems want to tax the rich more - well you got it in spades in your deep blue states where you're gouging the rich to the max! Don't be surprised if this plays big in next years races for state offices in NYS, especially against Cuomo.
3
Yes, they certainly don't put their money where their mouths are. They're paying more for their high real estate taxes so they condemn something that actually benefits low-wage families. Worse, they have convinced themselves that since they, personally, don't benefit everyone else hates it too.
4
If any Democrat ever says again that "there is no difference between the two parties when it comes to money," all you have to do is point to this particular bill.
Unfortunately, that's why a lot of so-called Democrats refused to vote for Hillary. Scary old Wall Street! So thanks a bunch to anybody who did that - are you happy now???
3
Corker and Rubio are sellouts.
1
Sen McCain, what do you want your legacy to be: he could have done something, but didn't? Every bit of good you ever did will be washed down the drain with this one. Vote NO.
3
And that is how the Grinch stole Christmas.....!
How much wealth is enough for the wealthy? What would Jesus say to Trump and the leaders of the GOP?
2
How about this, and I think it is reasonable. To vote, as a congressperson, you have to pass a test, with questions on the bill. You don't need to know the minutiae, but the overall concepts. You must make a "C". You results will be public. If you know the tax bill, then you will be fine. But you have to know it. President Trump, he must pass the test too, before he signs. How 'bout dat.
2
So much for the courageous senators Corker , Rubio and Collins...frauds all.
6
Et tu, Little Marco? $300? Maybe Fat Donald was correct - was he referring to your apparant penchant for thinking small? Thanks for holding the line for the middle and lower classes!
1
I hope at the very least, they will enact a federal “Death with Dignity “ bill, so that I don’t have to go to California after I get an incurable disease and I no longer have Medicare or Social Security. Just let me get the cocktail—cuz I don’t have a gun.
1
Significant legislative victory? Perhaps for Dangerous Donald, the terrorist Congressional Republicans who enable him and their wealthy donors but not for anyone else. For The Times to Call this a “victory” is shameful. Why don’t you call it what it is: A disaster for the American people that will make most of poorer and will intimately train wreck the economy.
1
So-called Republican Moderates (a species just to the left of Genghis Khan) need to acknowledge that they are selling out to bleed the Middle Class and working classes to feed the ultra rich and corporations (read wealthy investors), period. That is what they are doing. Ripping off the poor to feed the rich.
that's it. That is what they are doing. Snow, Corker, others who claim to represent the Middle Class are selling out their constituency. There will be retribution. There will be a cost for such snivelling cowardice. There will be a reckoning. History will remember. You are weak, snivelling cowards. Period.
2
Show me a place where tax cuts have actually paid for themselves - especially ones that went primarily to the wealthy at the expense of every one else and I will show you a place that doesn't exist.
A trillion dollars spent on infrastructure goes directly into jobs, improving infrastructure, and stimulating the economy, while a trillion dollar tax cut that mostly benefits the wealthy goes directly into their pocket and pretty much no where else.
4
The tax bill would increase the married estate tax exemption from $11M to $22M. At a 40% rate, that’s an additional $4.4M for each wealthy Senator’s family.
2
Will the tax cuts really grow the American economy? This is a shell game. All this bill will do is move money away from the government and into the private economy. It's a play on emotions with words. The entire economy which includes government and private spending as a whole is only so much with growth being offset by the loss of wealth through trade. Lets say the economy, as a whole, only increases two percent a year. Trump gets his 3.9 percent growth figure from the very simpler fact that the tax cuts will simply move about four percent of government cash into the private economy. The annual federal budget is about four trillion per year and 150 billion of that, or 4 percent, will be in private hands later each year. Sure the private economy will be looking much better on the books, but the overall wealth of the American economy will still only be growing about 2 percent a year. And then there is the imbalance between the national corporate 21 percent rate and the much lower foreign profits tax that will result in the continued exodus of American industry and wealth. So as American wealth continues to leave the nation through Corporate moves and Global Investing, we will continue to bleed wealth. This loss of the economy has been occurring for decades and will offset any growth this tax cut generates. It's a shell game. It's an illusion by salesmen. It's a scam to rob those in need and the future because the government knows of the decline of American wealth just as I do.
1
American political contributions should be limited to private citizens only, no organizations, and to no more than $50,000 per election. The alternative is, 0.1% ultra rich oligarchy will control enough politicians to control the lives of the 99.9% who are less rich. It will probably take an amendment to the Constitution, but if everyone gets out in 2018 and votes the Democratic ticket, that might just be possible.
1
The NYT and other certain media outlets decry that this is huge tax break for the rich. The new tax law doesn't allow individuals to claim any more than $10,000 on property taxes and adds a surcharge of $6 bucks on $100 for every $100 after a certain amount for high income earners. They also now can't claim state tax. Their tax rate goes down only about 2.7%. So how exactly is this a huge tax break for the rich?
3
They have convinced themselves that allowing wealthy people to keep their money is the same as stealing from them. The wealthiest Americans are somehow "stealing" their real estate tax deductions.
By this logic, the wealthiest are also giving low wage earners a doubled Child Tax Credit and $1400 in their pockets.
1
While I admire democrat' ability to band together,they are being short sighted here,you are dealing with a president who will not own anything ,start there. He does not own the building his name is on if we find out the funding was dicey,it goes from I have beautiful buildings to I just licence it,see Trump SOHO,to walking away from legislation that turns out bad when he initially supported it. If you want him to own this 1.5 trillion dollar monster,offer him a few democratic votes in exchange for releasing his taxes,he has said he will be losing money on this,let's see if that's true. He has promised to work for the American,this is surely a small price to pay and proof once and for all he does not mean to fleece the public as he has nothing to gain. How bad does at #DentureDonald want this win..
Let’ s call this what it really is... A heist of the national treasury by the wealthy politicians, regardless of political party. A trillion dollars too be repaid by our children will be funneled into corporate America. The excuse of trickle down because a rise in tide raises all boats is only partially true. The tide rises unequally, as the Bay of Fundy, into corporations repurchasing their stock, raising share prices. This is money laundering, giving value to all holders of stocks, specifically our Senators and Congressmen, shielding them from accusations of self enrichment.
1
Step One: In a strong economy Republicans cut taxes, vastly increasing the national debt.
Step Two: In a few years, Republicans will point to the growing debt and cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. (They call these "entitlements.")
1
Not ins few years they are already priming it now. It’s next on the docket
2
We are currently experiencing the largest separation of wealth in this country in over 100 years and this tax bill only exacerbates the problem.
It may actually benefit me but I’m still strongly opposed to it. I care about my grandchildren and the future of my country.
1
When the reduced individual rates expire, What happens to the standard deduction? And, do the exemptions come back, since you will no longer get the $200 credit?
1
The tax plan will increase the deficit drastically so that Republican donors and Donald Trump will benefit. Translation: Greed is good. The only positive thing about the tax cut is that it will provide political fodder for Democrats in the
mid-term elections.
My kids are grown now. My oldest grandson is in College, so the credit for Child care does nothing for me. Losing my mortgage interest deduction, losing my land tax deductions will hurt me by paying more taxes, which I can barely afford now. I still work, at age 69 as a school bus driver. I get a
Federal widows pension and social security, which I earned myself. My income before taxes is $60,000. I've always paid my fair share of taxes,but now I will have to move away from Maryland. I can't afford the taxes. $5000 a year on land taxes alone since I have lived in Howard County for 47 years....once it was rural now it is mcmansion town. Thanks Republicans for nothing but harming the "working" class, of which you no nothing about.
Hmm. Lets go through your letter in detail. Apparently if all the provisions do not specifically benefit you they gave no merit. Certainly that is one approach to citizenship.
You say you have always paid your "fair share" of taxes. Can you explain what you think your fair share is? Or did you mean you always paid the taxes you owed? Two different notions in my mind.
Unless your mortgage is in excess of $750k, the deduction remains, as does a $10,000 cap on SALT. So you can deduct your $5k in Howard County taxes. The fact that the county and state have raised taxes is not the fault of the Republicans but all the Democrats who control the fisc in Maryland. If they have raised taxes beyond your ability to pay them perhaps you should be blaming them. Sounds like most of the "harm" being done to you is at the state and local level. Perhaps this will force residents of lots of states to rethink how much they really want to pay their state and local taxing authorities.
2
Another end run around the democratic process by the Congressional Majority that represents, at best a minority of the country. Jaming thru a massively unpopular bill without hearings, without a CBO score, without any expert analysis. And in the Spring they go after Social Security and Medicare. I guess the plan is to make so much of the country hate them that they go back to their comfort zone - screeching obstruction and CSPAN hate mongering - because they will be routed in November.
Please stop referring to this as a "middle class tax break". It is a marketing tool, an economic shame, and will cause great social disruption. The $20 dollar per paycheck extra from this bogus "cut" will not pay for the increase in commuter costs, tolls or school taxes. It will not pay for higher health insurance rates. We know it is payback to donors, but what about individual members of Congress? How much benefit will each member of Congress (on both sides of the aisle) enjoy in terms of real dollars? (Chart please!) Aside from the Trump family, how will this bogus bill affect the incomes of people like Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, Jeff Flake, or Peter King? So many of us really want to know. Then we can draw our own conclusions.
At least Bush Jr used the Clinton budget surplus as an excuse for massive tax cuts primarily benefitting the rich. Trump's tax cuts come when we're still running deficits in the many hundreds of billions a year. There'll be no infrastructure bill. Nada.
Republicans have two main tools in their governing toolkit: tax cuts for all occasions and needless wars. Trump looks to get the first done by the end of this year. The war will come in his second year as the Mueller investigation closes the noose.
Do republicans really believe they're going to get away with all of this? slashing taxes for the wealthy and multinational corporations, killing net neutrality, no more "evidenced-based" in federal documents, and coming soon to a authoritarian United States government near you, privatizing Social Security and slashing Medicare/Medicaid. All deadly unpopular and opposed by vast majorities of both progressives AND conservatives.
They're acting as if they know something about the inevitable perpetuation of their cushy Congressional positions. How soon until they start changing the Constitution?
1
Senator Rubio - even Judas demanded sixty pieces of silver. $400 seems such a small price for this particular betrayal, especially given the dire needs of the people you now boast that you've "helped". More crocodile tears for the poor that you will bloviate on your next presidential campaign resume.
4
Democrats need a message for 2018 and it should be this - "Go ahead, Republicans, and rule like more than half the country doesn't exist and is not entitled to effective representation in your Congress. We, the Democrats, will simply reverse what you've done and do what we've always done (the last time just ten years ago): save the nation and its people by repairing your mess."
6
Why is the desperately needed renewal of CHIP funding not a priority for Republicans? Children with serious chronic health conditions, like heart defects and cancer, could literally die when their states run out of remaining CHIP reserves. Despite all the lip service to "life," the GOP doesn't give a damn about children and their families once they draw their first breaths. If the GOP is holding CHIP up as a bargaining tool, how low can you get.
20
Real unclear on something -- perhaps one of my fellow readers can help.
This measure is supposedly one of the most unpopular acts ever to be presented before Congress. Senators in both parties denounce it. You can hardly find an economist who says it is anything other than a disaster. The citizens it will hurt most are in red states.
So here's a question: Why does its popularity matter if it passes anyway?
And another: suppose the next Congress is not all GOP -- can this be mitigated, or are we stuck with it forever?
30
In a survey cited in the Christian Science Monitor, more than half of republicans support it (even if they don't personally benefit). It's not as unpopular as you are being led to believe. Claims of "Armageddon" are political.
"Senators in both parties denounce it".
O.K, here is the help you requested, that statement is obviously false. Krugman is not a credible economist. Given the inaccuracies in your comment perhaps you should reconsider other strongly held beliefs on your part.
The tax bill benefits everybody who is anybody in the debate. Those superficially opposed to the bill will nevertheless benefit from it. Thus and therefore, the bill will be passed.
11
"superficially opposed" ?? You've got some major American economists opposed to this disaster which will add a trillions or two to our deficit. "Superficial" might better describe the belief that the economy will be stimulated enough to cancel out the enlarged deficit
2
Superficially opposed? An unpayable deficit is not superficial.
2
Unfortunately the debate is limited to GOP donors.
2
Senators Corker, Flake, and Collins are abandoning their integrity in order to vote for a tax plan that rewards the wealthy (“Believe me!”) and eventually punishes the middle class. Credible economists have been critical of the plan. It is appalling that there are no elected Republicans who are willing to put people before party and personal ambition!
44
When the massive increase hits in a few years, remember it was the Republicans, not the Democrats, who did this to us.
42
Let's not mince words. This horrible bill is bad policy that will comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted. It will almost certainly lead to a recession. The only reason anyone would support it us to avoid losing the funding of rich republican donors. My only hope is that its terrible effects will become clear enough to throw the republicans out in the next election. It is intellectually immoral. I honestly don't know how it will affect me. I'll probably be fine. But millions will be hurt for no good reason. At least for now, democracy is dead, but it will be back with a vengeance.
40
I look at these Republicans and I wonder how they sleep at night. Are they just so out of touch? Or are they intimidated by their donors? Many of them openly admit that this bill is all for the donors. They don't even mention their constituents or their voters anymore. Just donors.
50
Please help me- which Republicans openly admit that this bill is all for the donors?
The Congress of the US is hardly more than panhandlers.
Why is reporting terming this a "victory"? Why not just say they passed legislation. I love WashPo but I am so frustrated with the way things are described.
7
Why go through with this complete farce? Just send me some names of wealthy one-percenters and I'll write them out a check and be done with it. I'm sure they need it much more than I do, right? And what's that sound I hear? Could it be the sound of inflating interest rates that will make the servicing of the national debt even more costly and ever more out of reach? Do Republicans have a death (or is that debt) wish, or what?
17
They're all infants pining for the Rapture when their projected God is supposed to come out of the closet and reveal itself at last.
1
They are going for Gravy, and digging their own graves politically.
But we will be fortunate if we all are not nuked in the process.
Fox is now laying the groundwork for firing Mueller.
People will object when this happens, triggering a stronger re-action that further distracts, perhaps an attack on North Korea, perhaps an invented scare that precipitates martial law.
I hope I am not proven correct, or added to a blacklist for these words.
Decent conservatives (like my grandfather) would be rolling in their graves.
20
Bait and switch Trump, the Con Man's Con Man. Now you see him; now you don't. He tweets us here; he tweets us there; he tweets us almost anywhere. From tax gifts to the already wealthy, to allowing himself to hide his own tax returns, to thoughtlessly giving away Jerusalem, to pushing coal in the face of global opposition, to having no solid cabinet of experienced people who will stay with him in his eccentricities, he can only be described as a form of conceited lunatic living in his own world of make belief as he is used by one political power unit after another. We are now off on a vast tax giveaway that he calls an overhaul.
35
Well said.
Most tax analysts state that the majority of middle class taxpayers will get a small tax cut up front that will expire in four or five years. At that point, they tell us, the middle class will likely end up as losers. But that assumes that there will be an increase in middle class taxes down the line, which hasn't happened since apes evolved into man. It doesn't happen for obvious political reasons. So your typical middle class taxpayer has never seen an income tax increase except temporarily during wartime.
When the middle class tax increase is scheduled, Congress won't let it happen. That's 99.9% guaranteed. And all the analysts ignoring this fact are either oblivious or think it's ok to lie because Republicans lie more than we do. The Bush tax cuts expired several years ago, and that didn't happen, and there are plenty of other examples through history.
Also ignored is the fact that income taxes are progressive, as they have been since apes evolved into men. And they will still be progressive after the Republican bill. Rich people pay around 20% of their income in income taxes while the middle class pays around 5%. The more progressive the better. Still, ignoring the fact that rich people pay income taxes at a higher rate than others is wrong. Instead, it should be argued that it is a good thing because they can afford it. Bashing the wealthy is an easy game and appeals to the feeble-minded.
It is sad when the truth becomes a scarce commodity.
4
You neglect to mention that the bill still keeps the carried interest loophole that allows wealthy hedge fund managers, private equity partners, and some real estate investors to pay income tax at a rate of 10-15%. Meanwhile the same GOP Congress want to cut Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. That is meaningful to a retiree who has mapped out his or her retirement based on these programs we all paid into from every pay check during our working lives being available for us when we retire at 65.
Everything you describe is actually man evolving back to apes. I use Trumps vocabulary as a guide.
Next week yer REAL water bill is gonna arrive in the mail. Stay comfy, make sure the air conditioner is alll the way up. Nothing for the smug/snide to worry about.
There's a lot of slanted information being presented right here in the NYT, which has been focused primarily on how people will be hurt. Considering only about 30% of taxpayers file a Schedule A (itemize), their claims ring a bit hollow.
Increasing the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit alone will put $1,400 into the hands of low income filers. Credits that allow a portion to be refunded if the taxpayers' tax amount is lower than the credit are a gift to these taxpayers.
Ironically, the NYT, which points out for every benefit that it will end in 2025, fails to realize that even with that deadline, these tax cuts will likely survive longer than Obamacare.
Corker and Rubio must think they're running in 2020, and thus need to appeal to donors. (Incidentally, they must therefore think Trump and Pence won't be around in 2020).
As for Collins, that's a true mystery.
18
Let them primary Trump.
Trump won only 33 of 58 delegates in Tennessee. If Corker and Rubio ran Trump would be shut out in Tennessee and Florida for a loss of 132 delegates from 2016.
Do the donors believe that if a bill that is bad for a vast majority of voters is passed, it will not be reversed by the voters in the subsequent elections? Who is naive- donors or voters?
1
I guess the donors just want to make hay while the sun shines
The courts are fast being ruined by the most atrocious judicial appointments in US history to freeze in the Trump nightmare.
Everyone up to $125k should have gotten the child tax credit, instead of only giving it to head of household and taxpayers for the limit of the handout as a poverty limit.
Now if Illinois could figure out how to include state tax deduction from employer disability payments, instead of only deducting Federal. You would not end up having to pay plus interest over time, because you are being penalized for having to receive disability payments from your employer.
1
Trump claims he wants to encourage domestic production, but the Republican tax plan eliminates the Domestic Production Credit, an important tax credit which encourages U.S. businesses to produce goods in this country.
7
Trump and his Republican Party of wealthy, greedy reverse Robin Hoods are "having their way" with us working and retired Americans today. We will have our way with them in less than 11 short months.
36
Enjoy your high state income and property taxes.
1
Two thirds of these spoiled smug senators aren't even running in 2018. This is a system geared to the pace of the Stone Age.
It would be more efficient if we and our fellow citizens from CA, NY, NJ, etc. just wrote our checks for our tax increases directly to the Trump family and skipped the IRS middleman.
36
Or, we could demand that our state and local government slash expenses to the bone, bring civil servant wages back down to earth, eliminate their pensions and return the money to the taxpayers who own it, eliminate all non-essential functions and the bureaucracy that goes with them, accept that some regions of NY and CA will never rebound so stop throwing money at them (Buffalo Billions, et al), stop schools from building AstroTurf complexes and make legislators pay a part time job at the minimum wage.
2
Corker, as it turns out, is not such a deficit hawk as he made out. $1.5T is apparently not a concern.
45
He wouldn't add a penny to the deficit, he said. And he's not -- just a trillion dollars. So much better.
14
Remember that Corker isn’t running for re-election. I wonder if his vote was sold to secure a job for life after office.
12
Corker is running for higher office such as a member of the cabinet according to his statement. So I would imagine he traded his vote for a promise of a cabinet position.
As disturbing as it is to comprehend, at the same time that billions of dollars of tax cuts are being handed out to corporations whom already have billions in banks locally, hidden in offshore tax havens and will ultimately hand that extra money out to their shareholders, NOT create any more jobs, among other draconian cuts, over 13 MILLION less advantaged children will now be denied vital healthcare and medications so they can live a decent life. What does that say about a country and even more importantly, a significant number of Americans who would actually elect individuals who, in order to strictly satisfy the needs of their rich corporate benefactors, think nothing of initiating this carnage against some of the most vulnerable of its own citizens?
Well, I guess that is why, at times, Trump is so pre-occupied with North Korea. Unfortunately, it seems America, or at least part of it, might ultimately have more in common with them then one might have originally thought.
26
The stupid US public thinks it gets richer as public investments are dried up to keep stock indices rising in defiance of gravity to create a false sense of prosperity.
In effect, the tax bill achieves four main things:
Mike Bloomberg's take:
It takes money away from schools and students.
It restricts our ability to invest in infrastructure.
It does nothing to boost real wages while making health insurance more expensive.
It makes it harder to control the costs of Medicare and Social Security without cutting defense and other spending -- or further exploding the deficit.
To what end?
64
To the end that Republicans can then claim the deficit is so high that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid must be cut or eliminated altogether which has long been their ultimate goal.
These republicans will bear the moral responsibility for the decrease (if not disappearance) of social security, medicare, and medicaid benefits that millions of people depend on in order to pay for this law. Hopefully the pittance of tax relief that will be seen by middle and working class folks this year (only to disappear over the next seven years) won't be enough to keep them voting republican. Susan Collins stated that her donors were getting impatient for action. Hopefully a majority of Americans will become impatient also and vote these hypocrites out of office.
26
Since when have Republicans taken moral responsibility for anything including their own behavior?
Even though the vast majority of Americans know that this tax change is bad for them, bad for their kids, and bad for the country, we are unable to prevent it. This is what a plutocracy looks like in action. The refrain from our purchased elected officials is "Too bad for you snowflakes! You don't fund our campaigns, RICH people do." And that's the truth. A few dozen incredibly wealthy people are paying for this thing. This is what quid-pro-quo looks like. This tells me that nothing can save the middle class (let alone the poor!) Even an armed rebellion is not going to return government to the people. We've spent so much money on the militarization of our police, that even the "well armed militia" so beloved by "one issue voters" on the Republican side, would be wiped out within 48 hours of armed anti-tyranny resistance breaking out.
Our votes mean nothing, because the levers of government have been replaced with a coin slot. You can kick the machine and scream for all it matters. "No tickee, no laundry."
Go and watch whatever brand of news coverage you find soothing. It's just there to make you think everything's just great in America. Donald Drumpf learned a LOT from his friends in Russia. The Soviet Union once controlled a propaganda mechanism that controlled all of Russia, plus a huge population of "satellite nations." Of course, this was backed with the implied threat of their military police who were only too ready to kill troublemakers. We've done it to ourselves.
74
Best comment I've read in a long time. Good summary of our predicament.
11
You are seriously misguided if you believe that "most" Americans don't support this. In the bubble, no they don't, but outside it, many do.
Why wouldn't a low income family like to get a $1400 refundable tax credit (effectively cash given to them)?
Enjoy net neutrality while you can. Soon there will be nothing on the internet besides fake news and ads.
the narrative that this bill somehow "favors the rich" is one big lie... as a California member of that despised, loathsome, freeloading class, I can tell you that my federal taxes will be going way up in 2018 and beyond
9
Please share what changes are increasing you taxes next year...
Oh, do please explain. In detail. With numbers. Otherwise, I fear I may suspect that this is snelfrockey.
except for the first $10,000, loss of federal deductibility of California state and local property taxes
How in the world is this possible?
Unlike the ACA, this has had absolutely no input from the public and their representatives who aren’t Republican. Conversely, the ACA was open to commentary from the public and from medical professionals, has almost 200 amendments from the then-opposition, and went through several committees.
And the Democrats waited until Scott Brown was seated before votes were cast.
So riddle me this, supporters of this donor giveaway: if this tax giveaway is so great for the middle class and poor, why can’t we see it first?
50
Alternative facts. Obamacare was pushed through before Scott Brown was seated.
1
So psyched for this tax reform, where it will be super simple and I can file my taxes on just a single notecard!
Then, with all the time I will save, I can read up on the great, great healthcare Trump promised us all! Can’t wait to start taking advantage of that!
Thanks, GOP you are awesome people.
17
Bought and sold. The best government money can buy. I love the fact Rubio, after being denigrated and demolished by Trump, and ready to quit--yes--he was ready quit the Senate (till he found out he'd have to find a real job), then he came, and joined the rest of the fake GOP holdouts.. so hey throw him a bone with the child care credit, toss ANWAR oil drilling rights at Senator Murkowski to win her vote, and let's not forget Senator Collin's mirage-like promises she got from McConnell and Ryan for future healthcare modifications. The worst government money could buy. Congress treats real tax reform like it's a drive though menu at a fast food restaurant. And don't get me wrong, all my local fast food restaurants give me a better value and a happier meal than this third-rate Congress.
34
Rubio is a waggy-tailed puppy dog suck-up for the ages.
"........ all my local fast food restaurants give me a better value and a happier meal than this third-rate Congress"
Absolutely love that.
Republicans reach secret deal to end old folk to fight
ISIS as a measure to help when they need to cut Medicare Costs next year and the year after that.
3
Fake profiles in courage from Rubio and Corker.
Republicans falling in line behind tax cuts for the wealthiest is as predictable as another Trump lie.
31
Government by the donors and for the donors.... Doing for the Federal Govt what Republicans have done for Kansas
17
Republicans say corporations are people. Why do I have to pay 37% and corporations only 21% tax?
29
Because, Republicans did not say people are corporations!
FINALLY!! The Republicans are thinking of the unwashed masses: raising the child tax credit from $1100 to 1400 a year!! Every 4 days they can buy a cappuccino at Starbucks. And the top 5% (It isn't just the top 1% that are reaping the rewards) can pay the mortgage on that vacation home in Aspen.
16
The child tax credit is $2000. One wonders how many who earn little enough to get the $1400 refundable portion are drinking lattes at Starbucks.
1
Let’s hope this is the beginning of the end of the Republican fiasco Party.
21
The party of fiscal responsibility? Just like the party of family values? You can fool some of the people all of the time ...
22
Aren't today's charades of signing on not clear to everyone? The composition of the bill had a few clear public outrages that would allow various
sensitive souls to vent disapproval, thereby giving them
bonus points among their voters that they are not as
scroogish as others, and can even then
boast about later that they stood up for the poor and defenseless...the
bulk of the party then can seem that they too "get it" and
get rewarded for such depth of character and sensitivity to
the plight of the poor and downtrodden by "compromising" in
preordained form.
The only ones not busy self congratulating are the marginals who will see a few more crumbs tossed their way, much like those
paper towels jauntily heaved at the desperate Puerto Ricans
by their so called potus.
The puny increment in their money back will not amount to
much of course. But that is, of course, hardly the point. It's the
media construction that is packaged for showing bits of when the primary
comes around next time.
The fundamental point seems to be eluding far too many. You don't
do massive tax cutting, taking out 1.5 trillion dollars without long
discussion and transparency. You don't circulate the text at the last
minute. That is what putin types do with their duma, where
self governing is hardly a relevant notion.
These cuts imply cuts in needed services, to be compensated for
by state tax raising on the middle class. What a surprise.
9
Why does this seem as if it is a stiletto in the eye of every face of the Greatest Generation's construction of the middle class and the establishment of a world order that was flawed but could always find ballast? When you're blind you bleed. When you look at this congress you weep. One trillion dollars? That's a lot of Bachelor's Degrees.
11
This tax bill is a giveaway to the takers, the 1% for whom all the money in the world still isn't enough.
28
The mantra of the Republicans used to allegedly be, "smaller government," but there is nothing more, "big government," than allowing the federal government to tax earnings that have already been received by the state government in the way of taxes. That scenario makes the complaint about double taxation of dividends pale by comparison.
6
The Republicans, the party of fiscal conservatism according to them, pushed the Iraq War costing American taxpayers 2.4 trillion by this year. Democrats voted for that and generations will be paying for it. That helped cripple the economy.
Democrats, working with Republicans over many months pass the ACA, a huge handout to insurance companies and based on the Massachusetts "Romneycare", via Governor Mitt Romney (at the time), a Republican. Republicans spin it as negatively as possible, dropping out at the last minute, as Mitch McConnell states (2010) “In one of the most divisive legislative debates in modern history, Democrats decided to go the partisan route and blatantly ignore the will of the people.”
Fast forward to 2017. There is no input from Democrats or our Independent. Republicans force an incredibly unpopular tax bill upon Americans with no bipartisan support, no review, and obvious handouts to the donor class while raising taxes long term and setting the stage to cut beneficial programs on the poor and middle class while putting the country another 1.4 Trillion in debt.
Are we surprised? Is this what we voted for? Will there be repercussions or will America voters go out not with a bang, but with a whimper (T.S. Eliot) as the ultra wealthy turn our great United States into an oligarchy of their design?
8
Everybody needs to take a deep breath. The fact is that people like me, with large deductions for state and local income and property taxes, will pay more in taxes. But most middle income taxpayers will get a tax cut due to no longer having to itemize due to the new standard deduction. They will have a much simpler return to file.
The corporate tax rate had to be cut. US rates were no longer competitive and the rate cut combined with the one time incentive to repatriate funds parked overseas should spur corporate investment. Highly leveraged firms take a big hit due to the loss of the interest deduction. I think that is getting less attention than it deserves, because it will particularly hurt Main Street wholesale distributors and retailers who use debt to finance inventories.
The downside is that if growth doesn’t accelerate this tax cut will accelerate already ridiculous deficits. I hope that there is a contingency plan in place if that happens. I suspect there isn’t.
The bill is far from perfect but it isn’t the end of the world and some of it is very good. I wish Democrats had engaged on it because I think it could have been made better with even limited bilateral help.
Maybe next time.
4
'I wish Democrats had engaged on it because I think it could have been made better with even limited bilateral help.
Um, excuse me.
The Democrats wanted to participate, consult the experts, have hearings and offer amendments. They were denied all this by their colleagues on the other side of the aisle. The Republicans drafted this bill behind closed doors and prohibited Democrats from participating in their deliberations. Now that the bill is drafted, the Democrats are given just this weekend to review a 500-page tax bill, and a rush to vote on it early next week.
Yes, it could have been made better. A lot better. If Democrats were only given the opportunity. Maybe you should call the office of Mitch McConnell and complain. I'm sure he would love to hear from you.
8
So you believe the Dems were invited to participate and refused - as compared to the GOP not seeking to include the Dems?
4
Democrats are loathe to give republicans a success. Thankfully, Corker and Rubio stood in for them and demanded breaks for low income parents and small businesses.
This fixation with the rich is a liberal thing. If it benefits the rich, it must be bad. In fact, this bill is only bad for (relatively) wealthy liberals in coastal states. A $10K sales tax deduction for people who don't own their own homes is plenty.
Senator Rubio probably wants to run for President in 2020. Who knows what delusions are governing the decisions of the other lawmakers in the Grand Oligarchic Party who should know better than to foist this unnecessary and craven pay back to the ultra wealthy and to large corporations on to our citizenry. The spin on how wonderful this tax-axe bill will be is based on lies and ridiculously optimistic economic assumptions. In a Trumpian age I guess we can't expect much different from the Republican party. Abraham Lincoln would be SO embarrassed to be associated with this destructive bunch. Vote People! In 2018 let's clean house of these divisive, lying, non-constructive legislators. American's deserve better!
7
how just can they be this insincere? well, that is a Republican for you, all about the money. What a joke they are.
4
Mr Corker is a deficit hawk but the article forget only one detail. So let rephrase it. Mr. Corker a longtime deficit hawk during Democratic Administration.
10
Such thinking definitely disappeared during the Obama years. Only once did there come any showdown over spending, and the media completely controlled how most Americans saw it.
Thieves stealing from you, the average person, and giving to the ultra rich.
And the difference won't be going into higher wages for you, the average person.
If you get sick and die, tough luck.
6
Deficits matter until republicans are in charge. Fiscal phonies.
10
The GOP has been doing this since 1981, so why the shock now?
3
Rand Paul announced yesterday he wasn't on board. With McCain out sick - it's a close call for Republicans.
4
"Washington has ignored the working class", the middle class, elderly, children, anyone that is not a corporation or in the wealthy top 1%. Thank you Mr. Rubio for continuing to ignore us--we will ignore you in 2018, 2020, and when you run for the presidency.
8
The GOP tax bill is a total disgrace.
5
Perhaps the trick is to win an election??
3
Little Marco caves and Trump triumphs. Not much cheer here.
5
Let's think of it as the "No Millionaire Left Behind" bill.
12
Gee, I hope those people making between $400,000 & $500,000 won't be too pinched by losing their $2,000 child tax credits. Shed a tear....
3
Corker claims to have had “many conversations over the past several days with individuals from both sides of the aisle“ that persuaded him to support this monstrosity? That proves he is a liar: I can’t imagine any Democrat who would encourage a vote for the bill. Way to hang tough on your principles, Bob!
9
This is a serious defraud of not rich US citizen’s future. This a theft of the middle class’s children. Let’s stop posting our overwhelming disagreement with this bill in forums like this (no one is listening). We need to assemble and take it to the streets in protest!
6
With this Tax Steal Act, Trump and the Republican Party have earned the Party a new name ' The Anti-Robin Hood' Party which steals the tax money from the working class Americans and the poor and gives to the rich, Trump, and themselves. These thieves and Trump will pay a political price in the ballot in the coming 2018 election and far beyond.
Vote all Republican thieves and Trumpers down, Americans!
2
The GOP is full of frauds--Rubio, McCain, Corker, Collins Murkowski. All and many more are clearly party before country and wealth and business over ordinary Americans. Maybe we are living in the end times...
5
I've seen it does not mean read it. Corker flaked on his stance to withold his yes vote if the bill added a penny to the deficit. It adds trillions. Senator Collins doesn't mind that the bill will throw millions off healthcare, and Senator McCain (bless his heart) doesn't much care about process or bipartisanship at this time, Flake doesn't like Trumpism but it sure looks like they will be BFF's for this vote. It's the tax cuts for the wealthy, after all, that's really the only thing Republicans believe in.
5
Did ya really think that Marco Rubio and Bob Corker would not vote for the bill? Really? Showmanship. Hollow, empty and lame.
4
These are not lawmakers. These are thieves and murderers all dressed up to look and sound pretty.
10
The what is in it needs elaboration. Looking at today's bill, page 93, section In today's bill on page 93, section 11045 (a) it says "no miscellaneous itemized deduction shall be allowed" does that mean HSA contributions, deductible portion of self employment tax, deductible self employed insurance, & IRA deductions are eliminated? This should be clarified!! There are specific sections on eliminating deductions for moving expenses, alimony, and wager losses, but what is the status of all these other items on our Federal 1040 returns, lines 23 to 35. The first three I mentioned are important to the 16.78 million self employed people in the United States. Clearly the IRA deduction is important to even more. I'd hope your reporting would encompass each item on a 1040 and it's impact, please!
7
May the punishment from voters be harsh and swift.
7
So who will be accountable when the deficit blows up, the safety net collapses, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Ooops, these are politicians we are talking about.... nobody is accountable. But they can always blame it on Obama and Clinton.
Can't wait for the next shoe to drop..... Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid.... it is the only way to save the self-inflicted blow to the head.
2
Read what a responsible Republican has to say:
This Tax Bill Is a Trillion-Dollar Blunder
Congress and President Trump put politics ahead of smart reform.
By Michael R. Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-15/this-tax-bill-is-a-tr...
3
Well, so much for Bob Corker's principles.
3
As they say, every man (and woman) has his or her price. And GOP “souls” can be purchased very cheaply. They just sell out the constituents they are supposed to represent.
4
Rubio does what Rubio does - makes a theatrical appearance and jumps back in line.
3
Far from perfect? Its an outright Act of War on America's middle class.
5
Somehow I think Trump is going to end up getting a tax refund this year.
2
I am concerned that these promises will not last.
Stop saying words like “victory” and “win.” This isn’t sports.
1
Passage of the Trump/GOP tax-cut bill will result in thirteen million fewer Americans having healthcare insurance, many of whom will die prematurely.
A Republican-vote for this is a defacto-signature of thousands death warrents.
2
Disgusting. Not the America I thought. So glad i’m Canadian with a social conscience.
4
What happened to the idea of requiring the release of Trump's tax returns before voting on a tax overhaul???
1
This tax code rewrite is not producing a “deficit”. It simply allows the US to become more competitive on the world stage and allows taxpayers to keep more of their money instead of sending it to the swamp for redistribution.
Overspending is what causes deficits. Go ahead and give your money to your sanctuary state ilegals just don’t expect to deduct the cost and pass it on to the law abiding states. There is plenty of spending that can be cut from the Federal budget.
I always said to my colleagues that when the US runs out of money it will be entertaining to watch the left eat each other over what give away has to go first. This bill allows people to keep money that is rightfully theirs. The “rich” will still be paying the lion’s share of Federal income taxes just not as much as the left wants them to.
Count me in. Congratulations to Congress. Merry Christmas America.
2
Losing the personal exemption is going to hurt.
1
We all knew Marco would cave, collapse in a puddle at the mere thought of defying his Senate daddies.
Man has a boat to pay for, after all.
But Corker? After took his hero's victory lap? Should have seen it coming. The troops are falling into line, as they always do.
Now, we await the good news from Susan, the waffle maiden, Collins. Through sheer dint of her iron will, she will have 'achieved' something that she's at least going to try to sell as a victory for the good people of Maine, and will follow McConnell like a poodle the rest of her misbegotten days.
1
No matter what kind of small adjustments Rubio and others have made, this is nothing more than a grand plan for stealing from the poor to reward the rich. If voters re-elect this band of criminals, we deserve what we get.
1
So I'm guessing since the Senate bypassed the need for 60 votes on this, it will be just as easy to undo it when the Democrats have control of both houses of congress and the white house in 2020?
32
Absolutely - Democrats need to run on the promise of substantial tax hikes - that is a sure fire electoral strategy
Not as long as there are two sets of rules, one for Republicans and one for everyone else.
2
There dont need to be substantial tax hikes on everyone, just the wealthy whose donations caused this pile of garbage law to be passed in the first place.
2
I'm sure we all knew Rubio was grandstanding, but Corker's last minute conversion (and his mealy-mouthed explanation of it) is a bit of a surprise. Maybe Moore's flameout is giving him second thoughts about early retirement. Perhaps the risk of being primaried from the right now appears smaller and less threatening. How about Flake? Will he also rise like a phoenix from the ashes?
8
This will eventually kill the GOP's golden egg when the lower and middle class have to pay more taxes and have less money to spend on the products/services of the 1%. This is colossal greed at it's height.
19
Well, the republicans are just about finishing up with what they think about the 99% of us. With their corrupt, greedy, despicable, cruel, phony tax bill, they are giving us the ultimate "golden shower." It's actually worse than that, but I will leave it at a golden shower. It is one that we will not be able to wash off unless we vote them out...and even then, we will reek for a long time until things can be turned around.
12
In Rubio's own words:
“the message is what it has been for 25 years from both parties — that is, when push comes to shove, we want your vote, but we’re not that concerned about the working class".
10
The cowardice of this Republican congress is breathtaking. They all know this legislation will harm many of their constituents and help only a few. All of them are terrified of a future without all the perks and sense of importance without substance have closed ranks, proverbial tail between their legs, begging for money openly and shamelessly from their donors who are squeezing them where it hurts.
This group has sold out every ideal they may have once believed in and now it's up to the voters to find people of substance to run for office and get them elected. It worked in Alabama, it can work everywhere.
8
The smash and grab Republican tax bill theft needs to be done fast, before anyone is aware of the heist. Not even Hollywood could dream up of a trillion dollar "Swamp Eleven" movie that picks the pocket of babies, the sick, poor, and everyone else outside of their club.
Republicans won't even leave us peanuts - just the peanut shells, if that! As they live comfortably with all the wealth that leaves us scrounging, fighting and fending for ourselves to survive and eke a living and paying for the taxes the wealthiest won't pay.
Forget rule of law. It is rule of thugs of a one party government. Republicans love the trump Russian chaos that lets them get away with the destruction of the people's government that should be protecting us from the unaccountable pluto-kleptocrats.
7
"Trickle-down" redux. Get ready for another recession, more bank failures, and more unemployment. This is the "Tax Cut and Snow Job Bill."
11
What's so conservative about increasing the deficit by $1.5 trillion?
The GOP trash talks the Dems for decades about living beyond our means, and now they're set to vote for the biggest tax boondoggle that will rob us, our children, and our grandchildren (and probably several more generations) of a fiscally secure national economy.
In the process of doing this, their "monumental" tax deform will take down the health care programs (ACA directly, Medicare and Medicaid most likely, CHiP not being renewed), the affordability of college (through loan deductions), and generally robbing the majority of Americans to pay the wealthiest among us.
And the effects of this won't even be felt by most Americans until after the 2018 elections (when they pay their 2018 taxes in April of 2019). The GOP are simply callous bullies and cowards.
6
Clinton raised taxes and left the country with a surplus. Bush trashed that leading toward s depression and Obams saved the day. Now it is Ryan's turn to destroy the economy. My response is to flee the stock market then after the crash go bargain shopping. This is pathway to wealth which requires no productive work, just patient, timing and common sense.
1
"I have seen it" says 45.
Yeah, and mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the (tax) fraud.
3
Democrats, don't make a Republican mistake--get a plan together NOW as to how you will fix this when your time comes. Get a coherent message together that you can campaign on. Don't run AGAINST the Republicans (they're doing a pretty good job of discrediting themselves), run FOR clear solutions that will improve the lives of the 99%, beginning with the sick and the poor. There's a real opportunity here in the wake of the despicable "governing" we've been at the mercy of--take it!
18
Rubio, Corker, Collins...all pretend to be noble political warriors, fighting for the common man. What a joke. They're bought and sold by their corporate overlords and campaign financiers. They're doing the cynical bidding of Donald Trump, a conman not fit to clean the White House, let alone reside there. History will judge these three as the cowards, hypocrites and liars that they are.
9
When we start hanging our hope of thwarting insane legislation on Marco Rubio we are all grasping at straws. This nightmare will be over if every Democrat votes in 2018.
8
Does anyone know what was decided regarding capital gains on real estate profits?
2
They bought Rubio with a few hundred dollars -- but that doesn't matter, it was the theater of him refusing. It gives him a "rebel" look for 2020.
7
Congratulations to the Trump Base on supporting a tax bill that will hurt themselves. It's like Kansas all over again with America Great on shooting itself in the foot Again.
If you're in Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, or Michigan and you're broke --- thank YOUR President...Vote again and often...GOP says thanks for the money...
11
the elected officials who are perpetrating this either stupid ideologue or imply so corrupt and devoid of integrity that is seems a great thing to do. not proud to be an american
3
With the signing of this charade of a tax bill, Trump will sign the Republican Party's death certificate. The elections in VA, NJ, OK, and of Doug Jones in Alabama demonstrated the advancement of a new and powerful 'coalition' of Democratic voters who will not want any part of this cruelty, this corruption, this oligarchy.
7
Taxation with representation of the top 1%.
3
It's nothing but gratuitous stealing. It's a crime against humanity, and it will open a hornet's nest of backlash.
6
It's clear as day that the majority of people in this country will be worse off with this tax bill passed into law. Immediately following its passing will be huge cuts to pay for it from Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security as well as other programs a civil society requires to have a decent and human quality of life. Healthcare costs will rise substantially as this cynical plan eliminates the ACA mandate and throws millions into the new class of the uninsured. The Republicans and this President behave like a bunch of corporate raiders who buy a promising company, suck the money out of it into their own pockets through over-leveraging, eliminate most of the jobs and run the company into the ground. They walk away with all the dough in a clever bait and switch game. The company is gone or merged into another and the employees are left floating belly-up. Republicans have taken this model from Wall Street and now brought it to Main Street.
12
Rubio sold out for $300 per kid, in exchange for a highly risky strategy that will increase the national debt by $1.5 trillion?
And won’t Ivanka be proud for her superficial contribution to the cause, with a benefit that worth less that a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.
If they wreck the economy, I hope they do it quickly so folks don’t lose sight of who did it, or forget who they voted for.
6
This is nothing more than a sham, tax giveaway to the rich and corporations by the GOP falling over themselves to pay back their big donors. Think democracy is alive and well? Think again. What happened to the infrastructure jobs bill promised in the Presidential election that was to provide jobs for those who voted GOP???
It's ironic the GOP was so against the ACA, yet the ACA took 19 months and many invitations by the democrats to the GOP to join in its creation. The party of no said no. This travesty took less than 2 months, no effort by the GOP to make it bi partisan, increases taxes the poor and middle class, will add 1.5 Trillion to the deficit, by the very deficit hawks during the Obama administration. The hypocrisy is overwhelming.
What we know is this bill is supported by less than 30% of the public, passed by one party, and as soon as the GOP loses control of the house and Senate, it will be repealed. Any unilateral legislation will be replaced as soon as the opposing party takes power. That is not governing, it's tyranny. Taxation without representation (sound familiar history buffs?).
It is no longer government 'by the people'. Replace 'people' with millionaires and corporations. Time for the next revolution folks.
6
"Mr. Trump also told reporters he had seen the bill, and he liked it."
Anybody want to bet that he really did read that bill? I truly do not believe him. He is and has been a liar his whole life. Why anyone would believe anything he says is a mystery. Of course for every trump there are thousands of others who are just like him.
5
The bill is 500 pages! Trump doesn't have the attention span to even finish reading Page ONE!
The GOP have the White House and both houses of Congress and all they manage to come up with is a bill that is "far from perfect"?
Will we at least get postcard-sized tax returns as Ryan promised?
Or is this why Ryan is retiring? Won't be able to run on that deficit stunner of a tax bill that really makes nothing easier for most of us and gives corporations more money to sit on like they have been doing.
Go Iron Stache!
2
I did something that probably no one in Congress did; at least skim through teh bill.
About 120 pages apply to individuals, the rest of the 500 or so pages deal with business.
What is interesting is that, in 2025, everything reverts back the way it was in 2017, as what they did is "suspend", but not eliminate various deductions, tax breaks, etc. Everything from chained CPI, to double standard deductions, to limit of SALT, etc. are temporary.
Thus, Democrats are in control, in 2025, and do not save the "tax cuts", what we have today will return in 2026. Yes, raising taxes, technically. But, if no one tinkered with the tax code, this would not be a tax increase.
Of course, not doing anything will add to the deficit and the GOP would blame Democrats for "raising taxes" and "adding to the deficit". On top of this the corporate taxes are permanent. As is repealing the individual mandate fro the ACA.
This bill should not pass, because it will create great pain, and it will make it difficult to return to individual tax status quo, because of the more than $1,000,000,000,000 being given away to big business and the 1%. What the 99% gets peanuts, fro long term pain. This is a fiscal irresponsible bill, which will do more harm than good.
I wish someone at The New York Times really analyzes this bill from a neutral perspective.
4
Taxation without representation of the majority of citizens. Tax cuts with representation of the fewest and wealthiest.
Only the Republicans would pick the pocket of a homeless beggar (blind or handicapped at that) on the street to give to their wealthy bosses, expecting the rest of us to simply walk by and do nothing.
Who knew tax simplification by Republicans meant actually making it more complex for the rest of us while making it simpler for the rich to get wealthier by simply doing nothing. Only in America!
7
No surprise that Rubio folded, as usual for him. I am surprised, however, that Corker went back on his statement about not voting to increase the deficit.
6
Merry Christmas Middle-Class Wage Earners with young families who are even now planning for their children's higher education. When you need the money in 2025 it will be gone to taxes.
Hello GOP Scrooge- As a teacher, I often subsidize my classroom expenses out of my own pocket. Not every family can afford school supplies and in the Trump economy, this is truer than ever before. The $350 teacher deduction wasn't much, but it did help. My taxes go up next year - my personal exemption plus the standard deduction was around 9,000- but my Pre-tax deduction for health insurance is gone in the new tax bill, and reduced my taxable income by 5,000. So with just the standard deduction I now have 2,000 dollars more in taxable income and my tax rate stays the same.
PAYGO means that to pay for this generous gift to our suffering billionaires that next on the chopping block are my Social Security benefits which I have been paying taxes into for over 40 years. So much for being able to retire in a few more years. Regardless GOP I will not forget you in the coming year as pounding the neighborhood streets of New Mexico to get out the vote and make sure Congressman Steve Pearce does not ever become a Governor. Before this tax bill I was at least willing to see what Steve Pearce had to offer, but now I know.
10
Reagan and W slashed taxes on corporations and the wealthy to generate jobs and grow the economy which Republicans promised would pay for themselves, balance the budget and reduce the debt. The result?
Corporations and the wealthy became super rich, kept their profits and tax cuts and disdainfully trickled on the middle class. The wealth and income gaps skyrocketed exceeding the unconscionable robber baron gaps; the national debt tripled then quadrupled; the middle class income stagnated at 1970 levels;the economy crashed nearly going over a cliff.
So with that experience, Republicans learned nothing (or perhaps they do know what they did and like the results) and want to do it all over again. Perhaps a handful of the super duper wealthy owning 90 percent of America (and much/most of other countries) is not enough and they want more tax breaks to bump up their ownership to 95 or 99 percent. What happens when they own 100 percent? We will probably have to hand over the social security and Medicare trust funds to them.
Well it's not the fault of the wealthy. Greed breeds greed. There is never enough. Republicans and Trump are the wealthy. They are grabbing all they can get.
The blame rests with the bold "thinkers" who voted for Trump and his Republican minions. These masochistic bold "thinkers" have it all figured out. Trump, the great businessman, knows better than Reagan or Bush how to trickle on the middle class. Workers will get crumbs while Trump eats their lunch.
7
"With Rubio, Corker Back on Board, G.O.P. Speeds Ahead With Tax Plan"
One can only wonder what these bums, and the rest of the GOP who KNOW they are selling Americans down the river, are getting for their votes. Rubio is obvious; he's simply posturing for 2020 with his phony concerns for the children of immigrants and their health. But Corker? Why are he and Flake in league with the devil? And Susan Collins was certainly easy to please. Must be some VERY large payoffs and secret promises of some sort.
Mitch McConnell presides over some of the worse members of congress (an institution no longer worthy of capitalizing) that this great 240-year-old democratic republic has ever known. The timbers of the republic shake, and our founders weep.
5
Well what can you say. These guys were voted in. They have wanted to do this for years and now they can. What I don't know is how much can be fixed if and when these terrible people are gone.
7
jo:
You are exactly right. Ultimately it is the voter who elected these clowns whom now, for once, have to take a long hard look in the mirror. For decades, most knew that IF, Republicans were given the power, they would do EXACTLY what they are doing now and guess what? They are doing it!
Are you finally paying attention now America?
(I couldn't tell whether my comment from a few minutes ago got lost in the ether, so this may be a duplicate.)
What's with the "significant legislative victory" and "notched two wins"? That casts this as a game or war, buying into the political mindset so fully adopted by the Republican party in recent years. These things have real consequences, trivialized by talk of notches. It's not a game. It may be warfare, but I think a civil war is a bad idea, and speaking in terms of warfare shouldn't be done casually. Maybe you intended to bring up these ideas, but with such a long history of the media depicting politics as some sort of game, winning or losing the primary interest, I question the language. What was your purpose in using it? Thanks for the news.
2
Californians are getting slammed by this bill. The middle class is getting slammed by this bill. two-thirds of Americans do not want this tax bill. 2018 cannot come soon enough.
4
I've yet to hear a rationale for eliminating the estate tax. What exactly is the economic multiplier of this giveaway? Hint: none. I suspect this has always been the long game for the Kochs. Paying lower corporate taxes is a nice return on their bought and paid for representatives but nothing says Oligarch like passing along a few hundred billion to your kids. Well played, sirs.
4
Increasing the child tax credit is also an incentive for the poor to have more children and hence more hand-outs. Rubio is pandering for votes.
I take issue with defining the passage of this bill as a "legislative victory." A legislative victory is passing legislation that will help a large number of people, with a broad spectrum of political support. This Republican tax bill is no such thing.
Also, working people aren't stupid. A modest decrease in my federal taxes will be more than swallowed up by new highway tolls - or the new tires that broken old roads will make necessary - and this is only one example out of many. My health insurance premiums are going up 20% next year while I can look forward to people like Marco Rubio slashing Medicare and Social Security so I can go further into the red to pay for their victory. Working people can't win for all this winning.
The Republicans should start winning like the rest of us come 2018 midterm elections. Throw the bums out!!
7
There is one group that can be sure will always lose with any tax reform, Democratic or Republican: The upper middle class. These are the professional class who make enough to save, but still have to work hard to earn it. They are white collar workers, but may have more than one job, and almost always have two-earner households. These worker-savers look like they have strong incomes on paper...$150,000 to $300,000....but they also then are the families that qualify for no college financial aid, who get so health insurance subsidy if they are self-employed, etc. These are the people whose money is low lying fruit for the Democrats and Republicans who want to protect their super-wealthy friends, but also want to increase government revenue. These upper middle class worker-savers don't off-shore their money, and they don't earn it through exotic investments. They work extra hard so they can put a bit more into their 401K or their kids' college savings plans. Their assets are very visible and easy for new tax laws to siphon from. When Bernie Sanders proposes free college for everyone, or when Donald Trump offers to cut the tax rate for corporations, who is going to foot that bill? The upper middle class, three-job-family, worker-savers will, that's who. Except, increasingly, these worker-savers are becoming just workers, because their ability to save extra money from their own labor is becoming virtually impossible due to the target on their back for needed revenues.
12
You forgot to mention we also get hit by the AMT year after year.
1
Unfortunately, critical comments about the bill in the NYT won't stop the bill. It rests on no analysis, no facts, no principles - Republican or other. It's simply a giant transfer of wealth from the poor and middle-class to the rich and corporations. It won't stimulate growth. It will increase the deficit at least by a trillion dollars. It will probably be rolled back by the next Congress once this president and his party have lost their grip on power. Meanwhile, it makes clear that Republican senators and Representatives who vote for this bill are unprincipled, hypocritical, and hostile to the health and welfare of the people. America is no longer a two party democracy. It is led by a would-be strongman who is unfit for office and servile to a hostile power, abetted by politicians in the pockets of the super-rich. Those who bet on this bill will look back in shock a year from now when America's governance problems have come home to roost and the economy is in free fall once again. The market's euphoria is a reliable indicator of that future.
6
Well, I imagine you folks in NY will experience this also: My taxes will go up $2,600 because of the loss of the personal exemption and cap on deduction of state and local taxes.
3
How could this article not even mention the repeal of the ACA individual mandate?? Isn't that provision still in the bill? The estimated coverage loss is comparable to some of the ACA repeal bills this summer, but it is hardly getting any attention.
3
Remember I predicted this: after this bill becomes law, the value of the US dollar will begin a slow, but ultimately painful decline.
Kiss your American dream goodbye.
2
Our banker, a Republican with enough grace and intelligence to be shocked by this tax "reform," told us this week: from this point on, "cash is trash." He advised owning commercial real estate and collecting rent instead.
1
If Republicans were honest about giving tax breaks to the “American people” they would keep the corporate tax rate the same and give that tax break to the middle class and working class. Corporations are flush with money and they don’t pay anything near the 35% rate. But Republicans aren’t honest their masters demand of them a tax cut and so they must obey or someone else will take their place. Watch out cuts to Medicare,Medicaid, and social security are next. Are you paying attention working class Republicans?
2
I just realized: the US, our republic, is being treated like a company bought by a private equity firm, purposely run into the ground and forced to borrow beyond its means, while the "investors" pocket the cash. Then the now-broke company goes bankrupt, gets divided up and sold. The "investors" move on, richer than before, leaving wreckage in their wake.
7
For a difference of $300 on the child tax credit - Rubio imagines he should vote Yes on a bill that will explode the deficit and come back to haunt him by way of a raid on Social Security and Medicare - does he completely forget what state he represents??
Also, I thought there were two Republican senators from New York and New Jersey who are protesting the bill because of the painfully/ridiculously small deduction on property taxes??
3
NY U.S. Senators are both Democrats, as are the NJ U.S. Senators.
1
Thanks, Peggy - you're right, they were GOP congressmen - not senators. Wishful thinking.
1
Okay. Corporations are people, according to the John Roberts Supreme Court. So we should stop being individual tax payers and become corporations. In that way, we, formerly known as individuals, become privately-owned corporations enjoying all of the new tax benefits from the Republican tax plan.
Let those who can't afford to pay for the conversion foot the $1.5 trillion dollar debt. It's the new American way. Thank you Paul Ryan and company.
1
And with the hit to deficit, where on earth will money come from to pay for that promised $550 billion infrastructure project Trump promised to workers, not to mention finding money to pay for health and medical care entitlements and CHIP.
4
When the Democrats take control of both houses (and they will), any opening
on the federal bench, including the Supreme Court will wait until the next presidential election. Every bill the Democrats propose can be done in secret with no time for discussion or amendments and voted on without anyone having read the bill. Any position once held by Democrats may be completely reversed by them without explanation. These are precedents that the Republicans have set; may they live to regret them.
4
This has not been done through regular order, and all our legislators know this, so the time has come to vote them out and to reward only those legislators who will be for their constituents as opposed to the Citizens United wealthy interests.
2
Notice that the Conference Committee, where theoretically a compromise will be worked out, has not even met. Note that the Republicans are intent on holding a vote before this dashed together humongous bill can be studied and evaluated.
NO Republican who is not protesting these tactics both to elected officials and publicly should expect to deserve any sympathy when next the Democrats control one or both houses of Congress.
5
Tax cuts for the wealthy will not create jobs. The way to create jobs is by giving cuts to the middle class and the poor, and by raising the minimum wage. And you fund that by raising taxes on the wealthy.
Here's an example of why giving tax cuts to the wealthy will not create jobs:
Consider your local McDonalds franchise. If thanks to tax cuts for the wealthy, the franchisee has an extra $50K per year, is he going to make and sell extra Big Macs with that money? Of course not. The number of Big Macs he makes depends on how many people walks in the door of his restaurant. Given that he wasn't turning away any customers to begin with, he can't make more Big Macs unless more customers walk in the door. So the question is, how do you get more customers to walk in the door. The answer is, by giving tax cuts to the middle class and the poor. When they have more discretionary income they buy more Big Macs. Thus, the way to grow the economy is by giving tax cuts to the middle class and the poor, not the wealthy!
1
Marco Rubio was grandstanding, for certain. Indulging in self-serving propaganda. But nothing real. When he threatens to vote against something Trump wants, it's just phony posturing. He probably wants Trump to increase sanctions on Cuba. Since he cannot come out and say this, he will find any excuse. But, mostly, he wants attention on himself. I don't like Rubio, he has no principles. He is not the only one, of course! I don't think these $400.00 represent any meaningful improvement, but it is the fig leaf he needed.
1
Interesting that the big tax cut for millionaire business titans is being funded in part by increasing marginal tax rates on those with incomes between 600K and one million. I guess the 0.1 percent are turning on the one percent bottom feeders, you know their lawyers, doctors, financial analysts and other well-to-do bourgoisie hanger-ons. Does loyalty mean nothing! What's next, no longer inviting the doctor over for Sunday dinner and a few hands of whist? Sad.
1
Next up -- cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security to pay for the deficits.
1
After the sugar high is over GOP, what then? Perhaps the average taxpayer remembers what happened after the last GOP caused recession was like.
2
I am a Republican - and finally, just may become a believer in representatives of my party.
Though, it is quite likely - given their history of this year - they will still fail in our signature issue.
Notwithstanding comments below, this is a core belief of the Republicans that all Americans shall pay no more absolutely minimum taxes.
This about to be ex senator from Tennessee - who is he kidding that he would have singlehandedly done a bipartisan tax cut.
He is a chairman of the Foreign relations committee.
Despite noise of "hollowing" out by T. Rex of the State Dept - this committee has done absolutely nothing.
And if push came to shove, I dare say that on North Korea - he will fail.
The days of senator Fulbright - a towering senator from Arkansas - are long gone.
Not wanting to cast aspersions on this Tennessee senator's motives for his change to yes, but it may have to do something about getting his K Street suite decorated so he can start minting.
Finally, the 44th lectured the Republicans,"elections have consequences."
Well, this is one you are looking at.
1
The majority in this country will be back to take revenge on your minority. You'll learn some more about consequences when that happens, and it's coming soon.
1
Travesty. No concern for anyone but mega donors and corporations.
I wonder how long it is going to take the US to recover from this disastrous regime. Presuming, of course, that we survive long enough to consider recovering.
Senator Rubio had a chance there to appear to be a leader, presidential even, as I assume he will run again. He just completely blew it with his yes vote. People vote with their wallets.
1
What a charade! One by one, Republicans like Johnson, Collins, Corker, Flake, and finally Lee and Rubio holding hands, stepped up to microphones to look tough while protecting the masses, then quickly folding once the calls from Shedon Adelson and the donor class ring in. Then it's amnesia time. Who won't forget? Independents and many middle class Republicans will join with Democrats in Wisconsin, Maine, Tennessee, Arizona, and Florida (but maybe not Utah!) to rebuke these thieves in the night. You don't have to be a math genius from a blue state, or even a purple state, to know anyone making less than $500K is getting virtually nothing out of this bill except that skimpy personal deduction increase. And once the ACA loses its demographic balance, good access to healthcare will also be gone. Feel fleeced yet? I do.
2
once passed, 2018 will begin the decline in the economy. car sales will be first to fall. then housing, then stocks will start to slump as corporations dont bring back jobs. the process of recession is all part of republican biz saavy. can’t wait!
1
Brutal. If only a Democratic wave could turn back this monstrous atrocity I might have a modicum of hope. But it seems like it takes decades to replace a bill as awful as this one.
America, "Good Night and Good Luck". I fear our Democracy is over. The dark money and lobbyists have killed it.
This gigantic giveaway to the 1% is just the beginning. Come February, the Republicans will say “ I’m shocked, shocked by the deficit “ and start to slash social security, Medicare, Medicaid, and many other programs to pay for their taxmas gift.
It’s the new gilded age.
This year we saw how the Republican party trashes family values for a political win. Then we saw how they desperately tried to undermine health care while the citizens cried for an even more comprehensive plan. This week we watched them endorse a man of questionable reputation for Senate and now they show us they never really were fiscal conservatives like they arrogantly pretended for the past thirty years. Senator Collins, Senator Flake, Senator McCain and Dean Heller, what do you stand for? Do you have a moral compass or the strength to row in the right direction? This bill is a travesty.
2
Absent a war, the likelihood of a Democratic resurgence (or Republican dissolution) in the next 2-4 years becomes more and more likely.
I trust that the Democrats are not so lame brained as to not divide into domestic and international reaction teams to start reversing what this clown car crash, under the direction of the Oaf in the Oval Office, has created.
Since this article is about the tax travesty, I think that, using McConnell's rules, jamming through a 95% tax rate on corporate earnings (what's left after paying for worker wages, plant and equipment and R&D but excluding all executive compensation over $100,000 per person) is only fair.
Passive income must be taxed at 95% and devoted to CHIP and similar programs to try to salvage a generation we have essentially exposed on the mountainside.
And mothball four carrier battle groups with the difference commitments to infrastructure investment.
That would make me feel better about this paroxysm of pure evil greed that has gripped our nation.
3
The Republicans will do anything to pass this deformed reform. If the Democrats can't leverage this disastrous legislation into some wins in 2018, we need a third party.
2
What's with the "significant legislative victory" and "notched two wins"? Why cast this as some sort of game or war? That buys into the politico mindset so fully adopted by the Republican party in recent years. It's not a game, these things have real consequences. It may be a war, but I think a civil war is a bad idea, and language from warfare shouldn't be used casually. Really, what is your purpose with these phrases?
Not surprised by Rubio and Corker's actions. I don't believe Rubio has ever done anything of note -- certainly not in business, the armed forces, etc. I know he lives off of his parents' narrative but truth be told he's an ALEC product. Corker is the real disappointment --a regular tin soldier. He's been squawking against Trump for months now and telling everyone he's a deficit hawk but when push comes to shove -- he falls down like all the king's men.
4
Stopped today at a McDonald's smack in the middle of Houston's Medical Center. It was breakfast time and many people, clearly homeless, were eating there. The blatant inequality - dire poverty in the middle of a first class medical mecca - was troubling and extremely sad. Maybe that McDonald's was offering free breakfast to the area homeless, I do hope so. Trump and his acolytes should have been there to see how other Americans live in this great nation of ours. Thanks to his policies and a spineless corrupt Congress there will be others joining the Mc D breakfast club for for the homeless. Can't wait to see them all pay for their incompetency and callousness.
2
If Senator Rubio were so concerned about children, he would demand that CHIP (the Childrens' Health Insurance Plan) be funded BEFORE any vote on the terrible tax bill. CHIP provides health care for the children of working families, who earn too little for Medicaid and for the purchase of health insurance. Do the GOP care so little about those who have so much less than they?
May God have mercy on the GOP.
2
When the democrats get back into power the debt will be through the roof. Trickle down economics is bad economic theory. Something will have to be done, such as raise taxes and cut programs and the democrats will be the 'bad guys'. Meanwhile the .1% and corporations will be basking in wealth created by the republicans.
1
Combine the repeal of protections for consumers, the environment, protected classes and workers with a tax bill that bestows great wealth on the upper classes and it's apparent the real Republican agenda is a reprise of the early days of US capitalism.
1
Never Ever believe again that anyone in the GOP will ever put this country or their fellow citizens in front of their commitment to Trump and the Party. Looking for "moderate" Republicans is like Reagan looking for moderate members of the government of Iran.
1
A compilation of findings from 17 national polling organizations shows that this tax 'reform' plan has only 30% support from the general public. http://tinyurl.com/ydhrh3us
Do these Republican politicians care? Obviously not. So much for "promoting the general Welfare"!
It is disgusting that Rubio was just trying to paint himself as a champion of families, which he is not. Corker is even more shameful for voting for this after being a deficit hawk and planning to retire. Susan Collins who opposed the health bill is now on board even as the individual mandate goes down forcing a rise in premiums of 10%. The GOP rot is complete. I am brokenhearted about the future of my country.
2
Thank goodness the Republicans doubled that exemption for the estate tax to $22 million - us average folks have been getting crushed by that for years.
Is it possible there is not even one "moderate" or even reasonable Republican remaining in the Senate?
2
Next Christmas will be marked by the beginning of a major recession. That is what always follows GOP giveaways of public money to the rich.
We'll also see a continued decline in American infrastructure, a massive increase in the income inequality that haunts our society, further degradation of the social safety net and much more poverty, schools in crisis, more pollution, less opportunity for nearly everyone, and more oligarchic control of our government.
It is very hard to have faith in the American system when a President elected by a minority and with foreign help, and a Republican Congress elected with a minority of the vote, imposes this robbery of the public fisc on us all.
1
If I woke up today from a time capsule from 1980, I would say to myself, "Oh, so the anti-deficit part of this tax doctrine doesn't actually matter?"
That then opens a whole range of opportunities! I am guessing we have also tightly kept state university tuition costs affordable to all, and are enjoying a single payer healthcare system? What good fortune economics worked out this way! We can cut taxes to the bone, and pay for all our social services! Boy, if we only knew this back in 1980, maybe that meanie G.H.W. Bush wouldn't have called this "voodoo economics"!
Wait. What?
Like many others who have commented here, I keep hoping that some republicans with a conscience will help provide the perspective and heart that has been missing from this bill all along. Unfortunately, no one in the group seems to have the spine to stand up to Mitch McConnell and the social blindness that has gripped the Senate and the House--and that includes "little Marco" and "Li'l Bob Corker", both of whom have now seemed to roll over. I guess Trump was right about them all along. Sad!
If there is enough of a Blue Wave in 2018, much of this bill could be reversed. While not likely, if Dems can capture a majority of both houses, they could push their changes through even with a veto.
They just need to keep drumming the "tax giveaway to the rich" and "tax hike on the middle class" messages every chance they get, Maybe throw in some "take away your Medicare and Social Security" sound bites, too.
That should get voters stirred up next November.
Kudos to Rubio. The family-friendly last minute changes were particularly helpful to families -- particularly, a per-child tax credit of $2K (70% of which is now refundable) for couples earning up to $400K and the doubled married-filing-jointly standard deduction at $24K.
The child tax credit, in effect, gives everyone earning under $400K a gift of $2K per child, coming right off the tax due amount. In the case of those whose tax due amount doesn't reach an amount to completely offset their benefit, a larger portion is now available to them as a credit. The higher standard deduction makes up for the loss of the dependent deductions in a 4-member family.
These shift the benefits to all parents from only those who itemize (particularly property taxpayers). Itemizing has always only benefited about 30% of taxpayers.
This is no "gift" to parents of children who are college age.
1
Maybe it's time for citizens to organize a boycott of US income taxes, to protest the daylight robbery being carried out by the Republicans. Figure out your taxes owed for 2017, then put the amount in a special account that will be paid to the government when this tax "reform" is repealed and replaced by something that's minimally fair.
5
Sure - but most all of us have it automatically deducted.... so...
1
As predicted, the Republicans are falling in line after a bit of charade playing. Timestamp this moment! Remember it when you do your taxes, when you vote in 2018 and 2020, and when you talk to your children about their education and your parents about their healthcare.
Good luck! You will need it!
9
As details emerged about the final bill, it appeared to provide slightly more generous tax breaks to low- and middle-income Americans by reducing some benefits for higher earners.
The key word above is 'slightly'.
4
They are absolutely dishonest, and I hope that voters remember every lie come elections time.
34
So in spite of all the people who have protested, wrote their congresspeople, lobbied their Senator's office, the 70-80% of the country AGAINST this horrible bill (everyone who knows what's in it) the GOP plows ahead with a fiscal mistake of epic proportions...and the goal seems to be an excuse to GUT Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA to make the well off even better off while the rest of the country suffers.
81
C'mon, give us two Republicans with a small degree of integrity to stop this terrible legislation.
85
It is telling that there aren't even two. Their greed is astonishing.
1
Asking a lot. They care not one bit for “The United States of America”. The republic’s days are numbered. Nice while it lasted.
With Pence, you need 3.
And the Republicans do not have three wise men(or women).
Wait, slightly more generous then the deep and longstanding cuts? Come on NYT, clean up the confusing language. This is clear-cut and not at all generous to anyone except the 1%. Stealing the futures of young and poor people across America and giving it to the rich is malicious, capricious, dastardly, stupid, criminal, and evil. NOT generous.
68
The shade of lipstick is the only thing that’s different here. Li’l Marco caved. What a surprise. Ditto Bob Corker.
The thing is still a pig.
98
And so are the send voting for it.
The only way to save the country from the horror that awaits us on the horizon is for each and every eligible American to commit to voting in 2018 to remove every last one of the irresponsible, incompetent, willfully ignorant, morally bankrupt, ethically incontinent, criminal Republican Party members out of ALL THREE of the branches of our Federal Government.
118
Let’s hope it will still be possible. Extremely hard to imagine republicans would allow themselves to be “voted” out by then.
1
And the dems too. I'm with that program. All,of them
You know darn well Trump has not read this bill, except for the parts some flunky has highlighted that will benefit him.
43
Yes, and? Did you mistake him for someone who cares?? Why? To him ignorance is a badge of honor as long as he can turn a profit on it.
Between the robbing of the Middle Class in this tax big and the grand theft gift of the internet we paid for to the giant telcoms . The Republican Party has committed suicide for generations just to payback the people that own them.
41
Makes it official---2017 was the worst year ever for the USA.
116
Het, we got rid of Obama! That makes 2017 a great year.
1
Letting millions suffer without healthcare, some of whom will die, so the wealthy can live even more extravagantly makes the GOP tax bill criminal.
75
People who cannot afford children should not have them.
I'm sick and tired of them all. Tax cuts for people who don't earn a salary and corporations. Trump and the Republicans tearing down the FBI and the intelligence community. Ratcheting up the tensions in the Middle East and North Korea. Someone needs to make it stop
78
Ah, yes. Now we can get Scrooged in time for Christmas !
17
They are all accomplices to a crime. They know their time is limited. So steal all the money now. When Republicans are in office they just keep borrowing and stealing all the money.
When a Democrat returns they will all start screaming about "the deficit." We must do something about the deficit. The "party of values" has no morality.
It is a return to Dickensonian times. Here's your lump of coal -- now go away.
28
Obama added an average of $ 1.1 trillion PER YEAR to our deficit. How can you complain about $ 1.5 Trillion over 10 years - if that's what really happens.
2
As the poor and middle class hang from a cliff, the GOP comes along and steps on their hands.
49
This bill is an unmitigated disaster.
24
This bill is horrible. Exclusively favoring the rich and corporations. Middle class down to the poor are virtually forgotten. Worse yet, they haven't even gone through the proper due diligence to fully assess how Americans will be effected. Incompetence and irresponsibility at its best!
All this to please rich donors
31
Vote. Them. Out.
50
And do everything you can to undermine the new taxes. Use cash. Cheat. They do. Make a visit to your local legislators' offices. And, of course, vote.
1
Shame. Shame. Shame. Or as they say in Yiddish, a shanda!
22
A travesty for the American people. These gutless Senators and Representatives that voted for this are our targets for preventing their reelection. The uneducated Trump supporters will soon feel the sting and consequences of Congress' actions as a result of their support for this buffoon and his sock puppets.
22
And you well-educated, well-off Trump supporters -- tell us how you feel as you read these hundreds of comments condemning Trump and Republicans in House and Senate (and Supreme Court?) Self-satisfied, perhaps? Let 'em eat cake?
1
What a disgusting bunch of self-righteous, two-faced lying thieves. Bought and paid for, they show more loyalty to a man they openly reviled a mere 16 months ago than the people they supposedly serve. The American public deserves to know more about a tax bill other than it's gonna be hard for all of us to walk with Paul Ryan's hands in our pockets.
32
These people are bought and paid for. Despicable human beings.
46
This bill creates a trillion dollar mansion for the rich and sticks the working class with the mortgage.
30
himm, the working poor don't pay taxes so they are unaffected.
THE PITCHFORKS ARE COMING.
Mr. Trump was the first iteration of the publics anger with being left behind by neoliberalism's scheme being implemented by the GOP and Dems. The next convulsion will be worse. They will end up in a basement with their reckoning, and then the reign of terror will begin wherein we go after each other. Empires always come to a bad end when the elite forget how they stood on the backs of the common man to get to where they are.
24
Except for the fact that they got all the guns. Oh, and also, where do we march to? They will be spirited away in private planes. And drones will track our every footstep. It is not 1789. Trump does not live in Versailles.
1
You are one of the few who gets it. Spot on! Excellent post.
The US "elite" actually invests in a cadre nihilists who will destroy it. You don't have to be smart to be rich.
It's all over but for the official voting, which now looks pretty certain.
The Dems need to craft some effective visuals to remind the 2018 electorate of who gets the biggest tax breaks. It should not take rocket scientists to construct those charts.
The obscene passthrough loophole will be a talking point next year, but sadly I'm not sure the issue will swing voters who can't handle complexity in the first place. And the small business community is now in hog heaven and is locked up for the GOP for years to come. If anything I can hear the cries at future conventions for "me too" from the professional services crowd that got left behind (for good reasons)
9
Unlike with Obamacare -- where promises never matched the rhetoric so as people used it and started seeing their doctors, plans, etc., disappear, they became more disenchanted, the opposite might be true here.
California, New Jersey and New York residents will be outraged, but everyone else, most of whom don't itemize, will be happy to get their $2K credit for each child and a doubling of their standard deduction to $24K for families.
2
Corker's legacy will be a $1.5 trillion debt in addition to what we have now, and what we would have piled on anyway in the next 10 years even without this massive tax giveaway. China will OWN our grandkids, Bob. Thanks a lot.
30
The leadership already knew what Rubio is, all that was left was to haggle over price.
Turns out it was $300.
40
Oh good. I can now inherit up to $11 million tax free. I was concerned about that.
89
It's something to strive for in this country.
1
Well, Senator Corker had us really fooled!
For a while there, I thought here was a Churchillian principled man, existing amidst the mindless immoral Republicans,
However, if he was Prime Minister in Britain's "Finest Hour," then all of England would be speaking German now!
On the other hand, Rubio was totally predictable!
32
Corker will be needing a job soon or a business opportunity, maybe a loan. If he voted against it, his capitalist cronies might blackball him. The boys in the club stick together.
1
This is theatre. Rubio knew he was going to vote for the tax bill all along, and Republician wanted the stated "concessions" in the tax bill. This act was a give away to Rubio to enhance his political profile. After all, he maybe their political savior in 2020.
27
I don't see how any republican in a high tax state could in good conscience vote for this bill. But of course they will, hopefully they will be looking for work in 2018.
30
Republicans in those states already deal with a largely divided electorate. The majority wealthy democratic voters only vote one way. The working class, another.
That's the thing -- the high tax states are Blue. Who are the Senators from NY, NJ, and CA?
Coincidence? NOT
Why do you assume any of them possess a conscience?
Not one word so far about marginal tax rates or how this bill eliminates the personal exemption - a meaningful $4,000 per person. Lots to hide from we the people. Meanwhile, it does all but write the Democrats' congressional campaign adds. They simply need to ask, "Have you received your $4,000 per year raise yet?"
21
Millionaires are wanna be billionaires. Check out WBUR-FM for show called
Dirty Politics. Guest said - don't know if this is true - that Pols can participate in insider trade schemes. A State rep's hubby worked or works for a stock trading company. Fed pols are looking out for number 1 even before they are helping the rich. They're part of the 1%, too.
6
I hope we all remember this travesty at voting time. Ending a hundred year old law, SALT, except for corporations! Taxing graduate tuition, not allowing student loan interest to be deductible, taking healthcare from 13 million people. Who is looking after the health and welfare of the people. Not the congress who are supposedly elected to do just that.
The gall of doing this without regular order, the democrats not involved and in secret and not even giving it time to be scored. Oh and add the give a way of our internet to corporations. For shame.
15
Are you talking about earlier versions of the bill or the one that is being passed?
This is what you get for not voting for Hillary.
I hope Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin is hit the hardest by this tax bill since those states are the most responsible for voting Trump into office.
33
Yeah, that's the spirit, genius. A lot of people in all of those states voted for Hillary. Last I checked Donald Trump didn't grow up and make his fortune in Green Bay or Oshkosh.
That's vindictive and mean spirited.
States don't vote. People do.
And a great many people in those states voted for Clinton.
Do you want them to suffer, too?
The changes have been achieved by "phasing out the benefits of the credit once families earn $400,000 a year, down from the $500,000 in the original Senate bill."
Why in the world would families who earn $400,000 need this? Even $300,000...or $200,000??? I would say perhaps $100,000 but even thatdoesn't really identify the needy.
9
To mitigate the effects of the loss of SALT would be my guess. Interestingly, the AMT already eliminates real estate taxes and hits those in the $200K-$500K range.
From this story: "Mr. Trump also told reporters he had seen the bill, and he liked it.
“I have seen it,” Mr. Trump said in brief remarks at the White House. "
Knowing how little Trump reads, knows about it cares about policy matters, I think he is to be taken literary: he saw the bound, physical pages of the bill, perhaps in a nice blue color, and he liked it how pretty it looked.
16
Having secured his post senatatorial career with his vote, venal Bob Corker, self proclaimed deficit scold, will expose himself as a hypocrite of the highest order even by Republican standards.
Jeff Flake will secure with his vote a lucrative position following his retirement while forever declaiming without effect that legislation must be passed to secure the future of the Dreamers.
Mike Lee is posturing without serious intent, his vote having nerver been in doubt.
Susan Collins will decide that her vote to undermine the Affordable Care Act by repealing the individual mandate is less important that serving her donor master class.
The bill will pass without a dissenting Republican vote.
22
And Senator Mukowski gets to drill in the Arctic.
Let's face it - Trump has never seen a bill that could pass that he hasn't liked and hasn't done "very very well". He has only 2 policy objectives - rolling back anything associated with Obama and signing anything presented to him.
14
Do any of these "patriots" have a spine? Pathetic!
7
Shameful disgraceful, irresponsible....what can you say?
5
The only thing you can reasonably count on with this abomination of a bill, and net neutrality destruction, is that almost everyone will suffer the consequences. Everyone of the constituents will be disadvantaged, while all the large campaign contributors will gain. To paraphrase M. Macron's comment about the trump, it makes me retch.
6
In the meantime, every Republican Senator should either abstain or vote no on the tax reform bill until the CHIP health coverage for children is restored. These people have no backbone and no moral core.
This is a tax bill that robs the average American plus poor, disadvantaged or unhealthy Americans to increase the wealth of already successful corporations and the rich. Pretty putrid.
5
I can just hear Senator Mitch McConnell a couple of weeks ago saying something like, "...and then at the end we'll toss some crumbs to Rubio and Collins and Corker and their little heroic charades will be over."
10
The Social Security rules completely wacky.
If you're married and you file separate tax returns, you pay tax on up to 85% of your SS benefits.
If you're married and file a joint return, you get a break with an earnings threshhold and probably owe no taxes.
1
Only one viable solution to this welfare for the rich tax bill - Repeal and Replace.
9
Why why do liberals bemoan a $1.5 Trilion addition to the deficit over 10 years, by giving people their money back, when Obama added $10 TRILLION to the debt during his 8 years?
10
Any basic economics text or history will show that during recession, it is almost mandatory that government spending go up. Do recall the Great Recession? Lots of unemployment benefits, etc. Should working people (with marginal savings) starve due the business cycle crashing? On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason for a tax cut during good economic times. Like a squirrel, hide some nuts, or pay down previous debt at least, during the good times. And always prepare for the bad.
The debt is the result of each years deficit. Obama inherited a 1.4 Trillion deficit his first year. Every year he reduced the deficit, but the debt still grew because the deficit still existed. So by Obama's last year he reduced the yearly deficit by almost 70% from 1.4T to 400B and that is why the debt grew under Obama.
Now the Republicans who said that they hated all debt and deficit in one fell swoop will add 1.4 Trillon to the national debt. Completely hypocritical.
1
The overwhelming majority of $10 trillion you cite was from the last irresponsible Bush/Republican Tax Cut, you know the 10-year plan passed in 2004. Of course you remember the McConnell/Republican filibuster to prevent repeal by President Obama and the Dems right? Most of the rest of course, was from the irresponsible war in Iraq, again engineered by the Republican Party. Turn off Sean Hannity and start doing some reading and research, or better yet, simply pay attention.
2
Guys. Your government is bought and paid for by corporate America. Nothing is ever going to get done that benefits you. What are you going to do about it? That's the real question.
8
I guess we have to march. We have had such a belief in our "special" status as the beacon of democracy that we didn't notice the slow, then increasing, problems of homelessness, lack of health care, wealth gaps, etc. We had it good, and we could put it in the back of our minds. We are becoming a third-world country at the same time a privileged few prosper (and benefit from the latest tax bill).
So, I say, take a cue from the rest of the world, and get out there and be very loud.
What worms these Republican senators are. The old men will be in nursing homes (private) by the time all the chickens come home to roost. Apparently the Rubios and Ryans will be out of office. And the people suffering will be the millions of Americans without health care, Social Security or Medicare. For all the rest banking on spending the next 10 years living off the fat of their congressional benefits, the reckoning will be at the polls in 2018 and 2020.
6
So what happened to Corker, bought off or threatened?
14
Ok, let's get this thing signed and rolling; bring back some of that $2.5 trill stashed overseas, and encourage businesses, both domestic and foreign, to place their investment funds right here in the U.S.A.
5
The best and patriotic action we can all do in the face of this stupidity is to take full advantage of the "tax reform." Everyone who can should set up, for example, a personal LLC so that their income will be taxed at a lower rate. When the government's deficit is more than the phony projections and the economy doesn't grow the way these Republicans and their masters promise, we can then lay the resultant fiscal problems, the decreased services and all the other attendant failures at the doorsteps of these so-called legislators. Be very selfish in the best contemporary Republican tradition for 2018 so that we can help bring on a never-ending political tsunami in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024....
5
Hmm. Transfers wealth from the middle-class to the rich, cuts rates for profit-rich corporations, decimates healthcare, cripples college students, drains economic resources from the economy, but the GOP calls it "tax reform," and the base and the media eat it up. Up is down, hot is cold, black is white. Welcome to Thunderdome!
7
MAGGA - Making American Gazillionaires Great Again - great job Republicans, I'm sure the donor class will have something special for you in your stockings this year, merry Christmas
8
I am shocked that Bob Corker changed his mind after spewing for weeks this tax bill would create an additional $1.5 trillion to the deficit and "it was still unclear how they were going to pay for the entire package". I must have been blind or delusional to think or believe at least one Republican cared about this country. Silly me - the GOP is only in this for themselves. I can't help but feel as if I was lied to. . . once again.
9
The Swamp Things Line Up At The Trough...Again, But This Time It Is Personal.
6