When I posted the projected results of the new tax bill over a month ago on Facebook and Twitter, I was blasted for spreading fake news and I was told
“It will never pass anyway but why shouldn’t the rich get a tax cut too?”
This was the story in today’s New York Times:
A HISTORIC TAX HEIST
“With barely a vote to spare early Saturday morning, the Senate passed a tax bill confirming that the Republican leaders’
primary goal is to enrich the country’s elite at the expense of everybody else, including future generations who will end up bearing the cost.
The bill is expected to add more than $1.4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade,
a debt that will be paid by the poor and middle class in future tax increases and spending cuts to Medicare,
Social Security and other government programs. Its modest tax cuts for the middle class disappear after eight years.
And up to 13 million people stand to lose their health insurance because the bill makes a big change to the Affordable Care Act.”
Let Us Prey by Thomas Nast
What the GOP in Congress did in the middle of the night last night by pushing this tax bill through was an egregious display of power. Additions to and subtractions from the bill were hurriedly scribbled in the margins quickly rendering the bill illegible. Cross-outs and strikeouts made with the skill of a swashbuckler throughout the nearly 500 page document occurred up to the last few minutes of the vote. All of this was to appease one GOP senator or another.
No one actually had a chance to read the final document that was voted on at nearly 2am. This is our government at work much like slippery eels slinking through the swamp at Foggy Bottom.
The Republicans denied the Democrats a thorough analysis of the bill because they know the guts of this legislation will further hurt the middle class and poor of this country and fill the pockets of the elite.
This bill was, admittedly, voted for by the members of the GOP “Because our donors expect us to pass this for them.” Humanity and decency be damned!
The needs of the American people be damned! We need to keep our donors happy or the campaign funds will dry up. We need to keep 45 happy, do what he wants, or he will humiliate us!
The haphazard appearance, scribbled margins and chaos of this significant piece of legislation would not be accepted by a 4th grade composition class teacher. It would be given a failing grade on presentation alone. Add to that, who really knows what is in these pages? Some news stories today are reporting that millions of people will lose their health insurance, abortions will be considered illegal and the national debt will increase by BILLIONS of dollars. ( I can not verify all of these claims, I have not had time to read through the bill .)
To pay for the cuts so generously given to the nations financially fortunate, we the regular folks will have to pay a heavy price. I wonder if those who voted for these senators will vote differently when the 2018 elections roll around?
There was no reason to rush this bill through to the vote. There was no deadline. It could have been worked on and tweaked until both Republicans and Democrats agreed with the language of the bill. It could have been written and rewritten until it worked for all of us.
They GOP voted for this bill without concern for the longterm effects of this bill and without regard to those who it will hurt.
They voted despite the public outcry against this bill.
They voted for it despite knowing the majority of people of this county oppose it.
They pushed this bill through despite reports on the horrific long-term effects it will have on us, the average Americans, and the county’s national debt.
They did it because they could. They did it because they enjoyed the power. They did it because of greed.
Our Senate is supposed to represent the people of this country. Last night, December 1, 2017 they demonstrated that we do not matter. They pushed this vote through because it suited them, the GOP. There was only 1 Republican, Bob Corker, who did not vote for this bill. You can see for yourself how the Senate voted by clicking the link below. It’s pretty clear that the GOP stood alone in favor of this.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/01/us/politics/senate-tax-bill-vote.html
To execute control over and take advantage of those who you deem inferior to you is akin to rape. Last night, in the middle of the night, like burglars, rapists and thieves, the GOP assaulted all of us. They showed all of us by their actions that this vote was their display of power. This practically clandestine vote was all about them pleasing a few, giving them what they demanded, and laying the burden of paying for these demands onto the rest of us.
In light of recent indictments of people who worked in an official capacity for this administration, it makes this middle of the night, ‘Let’s just get something passed to keep the money coming in & keep the boss happy’ vote seem even more horrific. It’s not what we hired them to do.
2018 elections can not come fast enough.
During this past year we have witnessed the daily attempt at suppressing and admonishment of our free press, the deportation of people who 45 has deemed ‘undesirable’, the suppression of women, the support of white supremacist, the promotion of State TV (FOX, Breitbart & 45TV) , the proposition to limit internet access, ignoring USA citizens who are in need of help because of the color of their skin, the undercutting of environmental protections in order to allow oil drilling, the gutting of the State Department, and now the rewarding the wealthy people at the top by heaping taxes on the middle class, poor and underprivileged. This administration has consistently hired people who’s only qualification for the job given is a hefty campaign donation.
We hear the press say how “Unprecedented” all of this is; how everything is different. I say it is no longer unprecedented. The unbelievable has become accepted. Have we forgotten about the frog? Do we no longer feel the water getting hot because all we can focus on is the constant barrage of stress heaped on us daily?
All of this is being orchestrated by a senile, petulant, evil man who is under the thumbscrews of Russia…
what could go wrong?
(Don’t bother it’s a hypothetical) We shall see soon enough won’t we?
Jennifer Wheatley-Wolf 