Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Republican Tax Bill Is Set to Clear the Senate

"Abbreviated pundit roundup: Path to passage of GOP tax bill built with lies and hypocrisy"

By JIM TANKERSLEY, THOMAS KAPLAN and ALAN RAPPEPORTDEC. 1, 2017

[...]

Democrats appeared to be opposing the tax bill as a bloc, saying it was meant to help the wealthy and not the middle class. With the Senate split 52 to 48, Republicans barely have votes to spare. But the bill’s imminent passage was made possible by a near-complete Republican embrace of the idea that about $1.5 trillion of tax cuts will pay for themselves, by producing enough economic growth and additional federal revenue to offset their costs to the Treasury.

That belief was contradicted by several studies, including one from Congress’s official economic scorekeeper, which Republicans dismissed as overly pessimistic.

[...]

Mr. Corker pointed to the analysis to push for rolling back of some of the tax cuts after several years, to reduce the bill’s cost, but many of his colleagues revolted over that idea. Republican leaders decided on Thursday night to drop efforts to appease Mr. Corker and instead sweeten their offer to Mr. Daines and Mr. Johnson, by offering to allow pass-through owners to deduct 23 percent of their business income, up from 17.4 percent in the original bill.

Previously, the leaders had offered a deduction of 20 percent. The increase to 23 was enough to get both men on board.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/us/politics/senate-tax-bill.html

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Who Gains From the Tax Plan? Economists Face Off

Republican leaders say their proposals will fuel investment and job creation. Critics say that the rich are the
beneficiaries and that debt will weigh on growth. We asked two economists, one from each side, to make their cases.

By Patricia Cohen Dec. 1, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/business/economy/tax-plan-economists.html