The Week reports: The Republican tax bill is an assault on American values
This conservative radicalism and contempt for precedent can be seen not only in the god-awful content of the bill, but also in the way it was passed. At every point Republicans relied on lies, concealment, and trampling over traditional democratic deliberation. They held no hearings, they had no official score from the Joint Committee on Taxation (the JCT scored an earlier draft, but not the most recent one, especially not a slew of last-minute giveaways to corporations and hedge fund managers) — indeed, they did not even release the final text until the last possible moment. House Speaker Paul Ryan lied constantly about its contents. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin repeatedly promised an analysis “showing” that the bill would not increase the deficit by turbo-charging growth. This was such a preposterous lie that he didn’t even bother faking the numbers. The secrecy prevented people from examining how it is stuffed full of quiet corporate handouts, only some of which have been discovered — like a big one to General Electric.
This bill will explode the deficit. And make no mistake, when it does, Republicans (and deficit scolds, who have been notably quiet up to now) are going to immediately start demanding cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid — indeed, under congressional rules Medicare is due for a $25 billion cut in 2018 alone.
Let us hear no more about how Republicans are the defenders of traditional American values. They are about strip-mining the citizenry to give as much money as possible to rich people. There is no other coherent explanation for this bill.
Now deception’s the game they all play
and corruption’s the rule of the day,
so in twenty eighteen
let’s create a new scene
with integrity paving the way.
Susan Eckenrode, 12/2/17