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Early this morning, just before 1:00 am., the Senate passed the GOP tax plan at 51 to 48, with no Democrats backing the bill while all Republicans present voted for it. Republican Senator of Arizona, John McCain, even though in support of the bill, did not attend the vote since he is undergoing treatment for brain cancer.  House leaders have scheduled a vote (with a final result of 227 yea’s to 203 nay’s) to quickly send it to President Trump. House Republicans thought they had finished their work on the tax bill on Tuesday afternoon, but their effort hit a snag when the Senate parliamentarian ruled that three of its provisions violated that chamber’s Byrd Rule (The Byrd Rule is a United States Senate rule that amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to allow Senators during the Reconciliation Process to block legislation if it possibly would increase significantly the federal deficit beyond a ten-year term or is otherwise an “extraneous matter“). The Senate made a series of minor changes to the bill before passing it in order to comply with the Byrd Rule. The House voted  around noon on Wednesday. It is necessary that both the House and the Senate pass identical versions of the bill before the President would sign it into law. Please refer to videos below for winners and losers in this GOP tax plan.

This truly landmark overhaul of the tax plan since 1986 had been demanded by Trump for months, pushing Republican lawmakers to send him a tax plan by Christmas of 2017. It is expected to be signed shortly after it has been cleared by Congress. Click HERE to read the full GOP tax bill.

Below, the video contains analysis of this bill back in Nov., 2017 (before the corporate tax rate was changed to 21%, various changes were made, or before Senate voted on it.)

Below, the video contains analysis of the law after having passed the bill on Dec. 20, 2017:

New York, New Jersey, and California are expected to be hard hit by this bill’s reduction of the state and local tax deduction (capped at $10,000). In addition to a massive cut to the corporate tax rate, (dropping from 35% down to 21%), this bill will reduce the mortgage interest deduction cap (from $1,000,000 to $500,000), the bill also would cut individual tax rates (which will expire in 2026). It  would rid of personal exemption, double standard deduction, reduce number of tax brackets (from 7 to 4: 12%, 25%, 35%, and 39.6% ), increase child tax credit (from $1,000 to $1,600), reduce the  mortgage interest deduction cap (from $1,000,000 to $500,000), and reduce the estate tax. The Joint Committee on Taxation projected that the bill would add over $1 trillion to the deficit over a decade. It would also repeal the individual health insurance mandate of  Affordable Care Act  that will reduce government spending by $300 billion over a decade but also leave 13 million more Americans with no health insurance. This is the ultimate betrayal of Trump administration toward Trump’s voting base (many are poor, rural Americans).

“Today is a terrible day for millions of hard-working people, but it is a great day for giant multinational corporations and billionaires who fund Republican campaigns across this country,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of MA said on the Senate floor on Tuesday before the vote. “It is not a tax reform, It’s a heist.”

Activists opposing this bill sat in the public gallery, repeatedly interrupted Republicans as they introduced the tax measure in the House. Another group of activists interrupted the Senate vote with chants of “kill the bill.” Some of the House protesters were escorted out by Capitol Police officers. “You are lying to yourselves….You need to go back to school to learn math” one activist shouted at the House Republicans. A CNN poll that was released on Tuesday indicated that 33% of Americans supported this bill while 66% of them believe that this bill does more for the wealthy than for the middle class.

 

Republicans such as Paul Ryan who voted in favor of this bill are not worried about the bill’s polling, arguing that tax payers would be in favor of this package once they have seen their after-tax incomes rise. As a whole, this law pushes for traditional values and family, with greater benefits for corporations and ultra wealthy. It may had been better to gradually phase in the cap on local and state tax deductions (aka SALT, State and Local Taxes, deductions). As it is, the high tax states (such as CA, HI, NY, NJ, OR) will be hard hit while low tax states (such as AK, FL, NV, SD, TX, WA, WY) will benefit. Much remains to be seen. This 497 page document is definitely a landmark overhaul !

If you are thinking of donating to charities, give now before 2018. If you’re paying high property taxes, find out via your local assessor if you can pay next year’s tax early (because the deduction may be available now that may close next year).

Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com

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