Congress yet again delayed a government shutdown, this time by passing a stopgap measure that provides funding until all of January 19. They must be following Mark Twain: “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”
On Friday Trump signed the tax heist into law. As Willie Sutton supposedly said when asked why he robbed banks, “Because that’s where the money is.”
Paul Ryan was asked whether the alleged economic growth resulting from the tax cuts would cover the $1.6 trillion dollars it will be adding to the deficit. His response was "Nobody knows the answer to that question." Paul, yes, we do know: It won’t.
Republican Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) had earlier said he would oppose the tax bill if it added “one penny to the deficit.” Then – in a Christmas miracle -- just before the bill was released from reconciliation talks, a provision was added that benefited Corker personally by an additional $1.19 million. Some called this the “Corker Kickback”. Suddenly he was a yes vote.
By pure happenstance, that provision also generated additional large tax cuts for 13 other Republican Senators, including its author, Orrin Hatch. I’m sure we’ll hear next about all the sacrifices they are making for public service.
Although Republicans claimed that this was “tax reform” and a middle-class tax bill, on Wednesday Trump himself admitted that “the biggest factor in our plan” is the corporate tax rate being reduced from 35% to 21%. 83% of the benefits go to the top 1% of taxpayers. By 2027, taxes for the bottom 60% of taxpayers actually rise. As late Senator Russell B. Long once said, “tax reform" simply means "Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree!"
An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll found that 63% said the tax cuts bill favors corporations and the wealthy. Just 7% said that it was mostly designed to help the middle class. In response, the House Republican Congressional Leadership Fund will spend $10 million in advertising to change voters’ perception of the law. Good luck with that.
Even Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has privately said that “both chambers could be lost in November.” Yes, they could.
Turning to the Russia investigation, we learned that after Trump became the Republican nominee in July of 2016, the FBI warned him that Russia would try to infiltrate his campaign. The FBI asked that he let them know of any contacts. No one in the Trump campaign told the FBI of the Russian contacts that had already occurred. After all, it’s so easy to mistake Russians for voters.
Unbelievably, Trump is telling friends and advisors that in the coming weeks Special Counsel Robert Mueller will issue a letter exonerating Trump from all wrongdoing. Because of course prosecutors always issue exoneration letters as opposed to simply not filing charges. A quick end to the investigation is incredibly unlikely given 12 things that we definitely know about the Russia investigation so far.
The question is what Trump will do when he realizes the probe is going to continue through most or all of 2018.
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