Republicans plan to pass a bill this week to allow churches to engage in political activity. And they plan to pass a bill that limits state spending on education. And a bill that caps state health care. And a bill that cripples public transportation. And a bill that will end the individual mandate on healthcare and drive up insurance prices. And a bill that would halt abortions.
And, incidentally, they plan to pass a bill that gifts trillions to millionaires and corporations while driving up both costs and taxes for the working and middle class. Because all of this, and more, is rolled into the Republican “tax bill.”
As the bill has been rushed through Congress with scant debate, its far broader ramifications have come into focus, revealing a catchall legislative creation that could reshape major areas of American life, from education to health care.
Some of this re-engineering is straight out of the traditional Republican playbook. Corporate taxes, along with those on wealthy Americans, would be slashed on the presumption that when people in penthouses get relief, the benefits flow down to basement tenements.
Some measures are barely connected to the realm of taxation, such as the lifting of a 1954 ban on political activism by churches and the conferring of a new legal right for fetuses in the House bill — both on the wish list of the evangelical right.
The New York Times, now that it’s finally gotten a peek at the latest version of the bill, points out that beyond the economic devastation generated by another round of trickle-on economics, the bill has become a cesspool filled with every item that ever appeared on a Republican wishlist, and then some. And someone is angry that they pulled back the curtain.
The Failing @nytimes, the pipe organ for the Democrat Party, has become a virtual lobbyist for them with regard to our massive Tax Cut Bill. They are wrong so often that now I know we have a winner!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2017
Jam your senators' phone lines at (202) 224-3121. Tell them to vote "no" on the Republican tax bill.
The party that loves to talk about state’s rights—when it’s talking about the right of states to discriminate against citizens—is pushing through a bill that destroys the ability of states and communities to direct their own actions.
The result is a behemoth piece of legislation that could widen American economic inequality while diminishing the power of local communities to marshal relief for vulnerable people — especially in high-tax states like California and New York, which, not coincidentally, tend to vote Democratic.
If the states are the laboratories of Democracy, this bill is a huge “Lab Closed” sign that forces every state to follow the failed model of Kansas. The limitations included in the bill will force states like California and New York to live under immense constraints that will cripple everything from public education to infrastructure.
Of course, at the heart of the plan is still history’s greatest cash grab.
Economists and tax experts are overwhelmingly skeptical that the bills in the House and Senate can generate meaningful job growth and economic expansion. Many view the legislation not as a product of genuine deliberation, but as a transfer of wealth to corporations and affluent individuals — both generous purveyors of campaign contributions. By 2027, people making $40,000 to $50,000 would pay a combined $5.3 billion more in taxes, while the group earning $1 million or more would get a $5.8 billion cut, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Congressional Budget Office.
The reason the Republicans are in such a huge hurry to pass this bill is that the longer it stays out there, the more aware of the contents people will be. They don’t want any analysis. They don’t want the details to escape. They don’t want anyone to realize that what they’re selling as a middle class tax cut is everything but a middle class tax cut.
Call. Even if you’re in a red state, call. Then call again. And spread the word that this bill is not what Republicans say it is. The Trojan Tax Scam is designed to give Republicans everything, even if it hurts. Especially if it hurts.
And they’re pushing it through the gates right now.
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News Today: The Monstrous Details of the Republican Tax Plan Trump Doesn't Want You to Know About
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