Even though the Senate passed their version of tax reform on Friday night, our “Political Insiders” are not sure they’ll be able to get a bill to President Trump’s desk by Christmas.
Both the House and the Senate passed separate versions of tax reform. Now they’ll hash out the differences in a conference committee before bringing the proposal back to each house for a final vote.
Our “Political Insiders” are sharply divided along party lines on whether Republicans in Congress will be able to complete that process by Christmas.
- 63% of the Republicans who responded to our question said they think the GOP in Congress will be able to pass tax reform before Christmas.
- Only 38% of the Democrats thought tax cuts would become law by Christmas. The same percentage of our readers thought that as well.
Republicans claim giving a tax break to corporations and wealthier Americans will stimulate the economy and lead to a boost in hiring. Democrats counter the tax cuts mostly favor the wealthy while adding more than a trillion dollars to the national debt without any economic benefit.
Not surprisingly, there is a sharp divide between Republicans and Democrats over whether they support the GOP tax proposal.
- 85% of the Republicans on our “Insider” panel say they support the Republican tax reform proposal.
- 82% of the Democrats on our group are opposed to the tax reform package, as are 74% of our readers.
Selected anonymous comments:
As always with Republicans, the tax burden will be born on the backs of the middle class. The rich will continue to escape paying their fair share to support running this country.
I support ANY tax cut for ANY income bracket! Even billionaires deserve to keep their own money from being wasted by government.
I like a lot of things in the tax reform bill. Unfortunately, there are also items I do not like.
Apparently the rich will never be appeased. More than everyone else is not enough.
2018 is an election year. A lot of talk, but not much is going to get done.
I oppose this tax “reform.” Why do Republicans always want to increase the deficit? We do not hear much about a balanced budget amendment, are we?
Tax reform is a misnomer designed to sound like something is being done by Congress but in actuality, there is very little deliberation and long-term review of how these changes will impact the lower, middle and upper classes-not to mention the corporations who admit they won’t really use this to raise wages.
I keep hearing the advantages of lowering the corporate tax rate, and it may be that is the right thing to do. However, there is no benefit to getting rid of the estate tax and some of the other provisions that are for the very wealthy. Especially since most economists with no party affiliation state that the taxes for much of the middle class will go up after the 2018 election. Giving the tax break to the wealthy and looking at the cuts being proposed — it is highly likely state taxes will have to go up more than federal taxes go down to cover the reduced federal funds.
Under the principles held by Republicans, rich folks & corporations get richer while the rest of us get shafted paying for the rich folks’ tax cut.
This bill will punish small business owners and will negatively affect the US economy.
The Grinch might have stolen Christmas, but he’ll lose his top ranking for this most nefarious act if the Republican majority Congress and President Trump don’t get this done before Santa comes on Christmas Eve!
Secretly hoping they do pass the bill to add another reason for voters not to support Republicans in the midterm elections.
It turns out the Trump circus can actually help move forward legislation. Instead of talking about what Americans will be stuck with a higher tax bill, we’re talking about the latest “Pocahontas” scandal. That gives members of Congress space to maneuver and fine-tune the bill without the typical pressure points that come from crafting legislation.
Niggling and difficult details remain, but the need to pass something, anything will get something through Congress before Christmas.
Tax reform we need. Can Congress do what needs to be done and on time? I seriously doubt it. Infighting, partisanship and general stupidity will take its toll on this legislation. Too bad for us.
Not perfect, but solid.
