Let’s see how this played in the biggest D.C. local “journalism” outlet
(Washington Post) Senate Republicans passed a $1.5 trillion tax bill early Saturday morning that bestows massive benefits on corporate America and the wealthy while delivering mixed blessings to everybody else.
After a frantic round of negotiations, Republicans came together in near unanimity behind the landmark legislation. The final vote was 51 to 49, with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) the lone GOP holdout. No Democrats voted for the bill.
The measure still has to be reconciled with an earlier House-passed version before being sent to President Trump. Yet in getting the bill through the Senate, Republicans succeeded where they failed earlier this year, when their efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act collapsed in mortifying fashion.
Woof! Regardless, it passed.
The most recent review of the bill by the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’s nonpartisan tax analysts, found that only 44 percent of taxpayers would see their burden reduced by more than $500 in 2019 but that high earners would fare much better than the poor under the bill.
Yeah, but over 38% do not even pay any net federal taxes, so, kinda hard to actually give them a tax break.
And the bill makes other changes that reach far beyond the tax code itself. It repeals the individual mandate from the Affordable Care Act, a major change that was added in recent weeks as part of a broader GOP effort to dismantle the Obama-era law. The individual mandate creates penalties for many Americans who don’t have health insurance, but the repeal would leave 13 million more people uninsured. It authorizes oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. And by curtailing deductions for state and local taxes, it will put pressure on some state and local spending on education, transportation and public health programs.
First, no one should be forced to purchase health insurance. Of course, no one should be forced to provide medical service to people who will never pay, either. If 13 million choose to opt-out, that’s not leaving them without: that’s a personal choice. Second, we should have been drilling in ANWAR years ago. And it is a tiny, tiny area that’s in play. Third, Democrats are always saying how people should pay more taxes, and that they love the notion of paying more taxes, well, now’s their chance.
Now, though, the Senate must reconcile with the House. There were a lot of concessions made, such as for squishy Susan Collins. Will those stick around in the final bill?
Of course, Excitable Nancy Pelosi (who had been protecting sexual predators in the House) chimed in
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., also responded, calling the legislation a “betrayal of the American middle class.”
“The GOP tax scam is a product of haste, carelessness and cruelty,” Pelosi wrote. “It was written on Republicans’ trickle-down delusions, not analysis or facts.  It was written first and foremost for the wealthiest one percent, not middle class families trying to get ahead.”
Because her ideas when she was in charge of the House worked so well, right? Spend trillions on programs that were temporary and didn’t do much to help the economy, while saddling future generations with massive debt. Oh, and lose the House in a historic fashion in 2010.
At the end of the day, I do not care how much money “The Rich” (like Nancy and the Washington Post) keep: it’s their money. I care how it effects me. If it makes it easier to file taxes and means I keep more of my money, great! Why are some people so offended that other people might have lower tax rates? Why is it their business? Oh, right, because they are invested in class warfare (while taking direction and supporting those very same rich people and companies who run the Democratic Party) and think that Other People’s money is actually the governments.
BTW, Nancy, the Washington Post, and the other complainers can refuse to pay the lower tax rates and stroke checks to Los Federales.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
It’s what Republicans do. They cut taxes. For the wealthy.
Jeff,
It’s hard to cut taxes for people who pay little or no taxes at all.
Beaner,
The bottom half in household earnings pay plenty in taxes, including federal, state and local. They pay federal payroll taxes on every penny they earn. I don’t pay SS taxes on most of my yearly income. Since they spend almost every penny they earn, they pay disproportionate amounts of their earnings on sales taxes. They are not exempt from state taxes or local property taxes. And as we millionaires get federal tax breaks, federal dollars to localities necessarily get cut forcing cities and counties to RAISE their sales and property taxes. For her vote, a more progressive GOP Senator forced them to allow taxpayers to deduct part of their state income taxes from their federal returns. The GOP bill will almost certainly INCREASE the overall tax burdens on the working classes.
Since you admit that the GOP is lying when they say these tax cuts help everyone… If you think the working classes don’t pay taxes, then why cut taxes for the wealthy? The wealthy are getting wealthier. Corporations are hoarding billions in record profits. Why add to the debt when the economy has been improving for the past 8 years? Few economists project that this Relief Act for Millionaires will stimulate the economy in any significant way.
So why harm the nation and its people to reward millionaires? Ideology.
The overarching goal of the far-right is generate budget crises to force cuts in non-defense federal spending, since they are too cowardly to directly pass legislation slashing popular programs. Since the GOP intentionally wrote this bill to increase the debt (without offsets), it will trigger automatic cutbacks in other non-defense spending, mostly in healthcare, e.g., Medicare and Medicaid.
Are any of you on Medicare? Do any of you have loved ones in Medicaid-paid nursing or assisted-living facilities? You better buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Jeff,
We are talking about Federal Income Taxes here not the State/Local or SS taxes. Even in states that have a state income tax the poor pay very little or none at all and tax rates are usually aimed at the very wealthy.
No I am not admitting the GOP is lying. Any fool with a brain knows people who don’t pay federal income tax are not going to get a tax break. This is especially true for those who get earned income tax credits and actually get a “refund” when they paid no federal income tax at all.
GOP manufactured crisis, spare me. Government spending with minimal 8% increases in government spending is already adding to the debt. Anything less than 8% increases is a cut to Democrats.
Medicare/Medicaid is already a turd because of fraud waste and abuse. Trying to reimburse doctors less money than what they face in expenses is a losing proposition. I’m just glad that when I am forced onto Medicare I will have Tri-care Wraparound.
Jeff,
During the entire time that Obama was in office, not one, including you, democrat said a thing about his enormous debt. Now that is all that folks like you are talking about. Then, please explain how any of these tax cuts are going to effect Medicare, as to Medicaid, that stopped with Obamacare as Medicaid was expanded but now will not pay for a thing, they stop doctors from doing the necessary test and procedures for patients.
dave,
Just imagine if Bush hadn’t run up the debt with tax cuts and the invasion of Iraq before the Great Recession. Do you object to the increased unemployment benefits and Medicaid payments to the working class people who lost their jobs during the Great Recession? Should we just have let them suffer?
Jeff,
I have no idea what you are talking about and neither do you. No, we need jobs, not unemployment benefits and Medicaid is under O care now and is failing. I think Bush was as bad as Obama. And Barney Frank caused the depression and Bush’s tax cut were not enough because of jerks like you.
“The overarching goal of the far-right is generate budget crises to force cuts in non-defense federal spending, since they are too cowardly to directly pass legislation slashing popular programs. Since the GOP intentionally wrote this bill to increase the debt (without offsets), it will trigger automatic cutbacks in other non-defense spending, mostly in healthcare, e.g., Medicare and Medicaid.”
“Far-right”? – Such a creature does not exist at fed level of American politics, and you do yourself a disservice by parroting a dishonest and misleading leftist buzzword. You might as well try to fit in heteronormative, patriarchy, systemic racism, and white privilege, there might be someone that doesn’t quite get where you’re coming from?
Hill,
He is so stupid that he can not reason at all. I don’t know why anyone returns his comments.
No far right in DC? LOL. tRump supports the US alt-right in all their KKK, neoNazi, white nationalist glory. And the Freedom Caucus is littered with far-right “minds”.
Jeff,
Prove it.
Defeat the tax bill, save Chuckie “the clown” Schumer’s $58,000 tax deduction!!
“The bottom half in household earnings….pay a disproportionate amount of their earnings on sales taxes.†Interesting. By that logic they then pay a disproportionate amping of their earnings on a loaf of bread, a car, a house..anything. “They are not exempt from state or local taxes.†Why should they be? They’re already paying hardly any income tax.
j,
Another commenter claimed that many Americans pay no taxes which I demonstrated was untrue. I’m sorry that you are confused. The disproportionate share that the working classes pay in sales tax is as a percentage of their income, as opposed to the percentage of income paid as sales tax by the wealthy. We keep shifting the tax burdens to the working classes and off the wealthy. I’m sorry that you are confused. We did not suggest that the working classes not pay state or local taxes, did we. We just pointed out that they pay taxes. We’re sorry that you’re confused.
Jeff,
Word games make you appear stupid. Most Americans do not pay the taxes associated with those in the tax bill, grow up.
Classic: “High earners would fare much better than the poor under the bill.†As said, it’s hard to subtract from near zero. But it’s funy you never hear the reverse when taxes are raised. “The rich fare much worse than the poor under this tax raising bill…â€
Sill waiting to hear why Obama left Bush’s tax cuts in place for 2more yrs if the erroneously labeled “tax cuts for the rich†were so terrible, especially because the Dems had a super-majority in Congress.
There ain’t no free lunch.
Nothing is free. There is always a price. The GOP passed tax cuts on a partisan basis just like the Dems passed Obamacare on a partisan basis.
The difference is that the dems put in place a behemouth that is nearly impossible to get rid off and forces the government to spend to salvage it. Everyones costs are going up.
In this case the GOP passed a tax CUT that might or might not raise the deficit. Most likely it will. Nothing the government ever does actually saves money or balances the budget. So that being said we will see what happens in a year when they vote again.
The dems ranting and raving that everyones got a job and has to pay taxes on a job. Or the GOP ranting and raving that the government has gutted their healthcare to pay for a bunch of poor people who were getting care anyways and then watched their premiums go up COSTING THEM MONEY.
Lets just wait and see. As for the Democrats gripe. Let em bitch, moan and complain. They after all started this when they went with the nuclear option rather than keeping the 60 vote process in place.
Patterico’s complaint is that the urban upper middle class professionals will get screwed with the loss of the deduction for state and local income taxes. He figures it will cost him around $10,000 personally, which would mean that his income is somewhere in the $500,000 range.
Me? I oppose the tax bill because it will significantly increase the deficit, and the national debt, even though I will (probably) come out ahead under the legislation. I spent eight years combitching about the huge deficits under Barack Hussein Obama, and it would be hypocritical of me to just turn a blind eye to those deficits now that a Republican is President.
The only truly right thing to do would be to repeal the 16th amendment, and allow Congress to only tax per individual, not on how much money people make. That won’t happen, so the best remaining option is something similar to the Dick Armey plan of the 1990s: a single, high standard deduction — Mr Armey called for large personal exemptions instead — and a single percentage rate tax on all income above that standard deduction, with no other deductions. We need to try to treat everybody the same, as closely as we can.