As far as House Republican maniacs are concerned, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can't do anything right. The fact that he finally has a legislative accomplishment, finally getting a big bill passed in the form of the tax bill, doesn't change anything. Because in getting that bill passed, McConnell made some big promises to two Senate Republicans—Jeff Flake of Arizona and Maine's Susan Collins. McConnell promised Collins that Congress would work on legislation to stabilize the Affordable Care Act and assured Flake that they would work out a solution for DACA, the program that shields children of undocumented immigrants.
Promises to both senators are contingent on the House Republicans and, as usual, the maniacs in the House Republican conference don't want to play along.
"We still have the same issues. Nothing has changed in the last two months just because we're fulfilling our promise on delivering on tax reform," Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, told The Daily Beast. "I find it problematic to be promising something that the House has shunned from very early on."
Lawmakers made it clear that they felt no reason to support the proposed deals, and blamed Senate leaders for trying to wheel and deal their way to a successful result on reforming the tax code and slashing rates, an issue they believe all Republicans should have been united around from the start. […]
"I think this is exactly what the American people are sick of: learning about trading votes to modify the healthcare system and one fifth of the economy in exchange for a tax vote," Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA), a member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, told The Daily Beast. "So it seems like it would be wiser for Republicans to actually follow what is in the Republican platform and not what is in the Democratic platform." […]
"McConnell is asking for us to vote for these unpalatable things to do tax reform," a conservative House GOP aide told The Daily Beast. "We have someone who's taking a hostage, we have to negotiate with them, and, oh, they happen to be from the same party."
If the things Collins and Flake want are going to happen, they're going to happen because leadership works with Democrats in both chambers. Because they're not going to be able to get it done in the House with the maniacs and because they've got to get 60 votes in the Senate, and Republicans have just 52.
This is where it gets tricky for the tax bill to end up as law, because it will probably have to go back to the Senate for passage after conference between the two chambers. The alternative to conference would be for the House to simply pass the Senate bill, but that can't happen. That's because in all the last-minute horse trading and scrawling changes on the bill, the Senate screwed up.
To get to 51 votes, McConnell had to add some expensive things in so to make up for that, he added back a corporate alternative minimum tax. The problem is, when they put it back in they forgot to lower the rate from its current 20 percent. And corporations—and House Republicans are having a fit about that. So it has to be fixed, which means a new bill coming back to the Senate.
So here's where Flake and Collins have a decision to make. Do they once again rubber-stamp this monstrosity of a bill, knowing that everyone thinks they got snookered by McConnell and knowing how badly they're going to hurt their constituents if it becomes law? Or do they stand up for the principles they keep insisting they hold dear?
The GOP Tax Scam is a "working definition of a tax boondoggle" for banks, big oil, developers—and it still needs to pass both houses of Congress before it becomes law. Call your members of the House AGAIN TODAY at (202) 224-3121, and tell them you are absolutely furious and they must vote NO.