Tag Archives: GOP tax bill

12/21 News Roundup – Bernie Blasts The GOP’s Handouts To Billionaires, 10 Amazing Social Movements To Give Us Hope & More

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Bernie Sanders Calls Tax Plan ‘Great Victory’ For Billionaires Like Trump

Senator Bernie Sanders excoriated the $1.5 trillion Republican tax bill, which cleared Congress Wednesday, calling it a “looting” of the American Treasury and a “victory” for prominent Republican campaign donors such as the Koch brothers.

“Today marks a great victory for the Koch brothers and other billionaire Republican campaign contributors who will see huge tax breaks for themselves while driving up the deficit by almost $1.5 trillion.” he said in a video posted on Twitter. “Today is also a victory for the largest and most profitable corporations in this country like Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer and General Electric who despite record-breaking profits will see hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks.”

Sanders, an Independent from Vermont who challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, also had harsh words for his congressional colleagues. He said some with substantial investments in real estate voted to “further enrich themselves” by lowering the taxes they owe, referring to a last-minute addition snuck into the bill to benefit people who hold real estate through a limited liability company. Trump and his family along with a number of senators such as Bob Corker are expected to make significant gains from the provision.

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Sanders stressed the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center’s findings that 83 percent of the benefits of the tax bill will enrich the top one percent of Americans, and that in eight years taxes will once again increase for 93 percent of middle-income households while corporate tax cuts are permanent.

Nearly 13 million Americans are expected to lose their health insurance under the tax bill due to the loss of the individual mandate, Sanders warned. Trump called the plan “basically a repeal of Obamacare” during a celebratory speech Wednesday. He claimed he told his Republican allies to “be quiet with the fake news media because I don’t want them talking too much about it.” But “now that it’s approved, I can say that,” he said. Those losses could cause healthcare premiums on the individual market to increase by 10 percent.

The full clip of Sanders on CNN and other news/video/tweet/etc. will be in the comment below.

12/20 GOP Makes Charles Dickens Great Again

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

As reported widely here and at TOP, the GOP tax reform bill is going to Herr Drumpf’s Desk, although it’s unclear exactly when he will sign it. It’s so disgusting that I’m surprised Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have decent slacks to wear after wadding through that swamp to make it into something less lethal. The swamp is now a moat around Republicans and their campaign donors, and it will be difficult to cross the bridge of progress for the 96% of us. Some folks in our Wing may recall reading Charles Dickens novels in middle school, high school or … Continue reading →

12/15 News Roundup – Sanders: Process for Tax Reform Bill ‘Just a Disaster’, The Campaign For Congress to Overrule FCC Vote & More

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Bernie Sanders: Process for Tax Reform Bill ‘Just a Disaster’

The process to pass landmark tax reform legislation “has been just a disaster,” as the American public does not understand what all it involves, Sen. Bernie Sanders complained Thursday.

“Are you suggesting that a bill that impacts the entire economy, virtually every American, should be read before people vote upon it?” the Vermont independent and former presidential candidate told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell.

The bill was discussed and determined “around back doors,” Sanders continued. “Some 5,000 lobbyists have participated in it, but the American public does not know what’s in it. Bottom line, and I think some of the Republicans have been honest enough about acknowledging this, this is a gift for Republican wealthy campaign contributors.”

“At the end of 10 years, 83 million middle class families will be paying more in taxes,” said Sanders. “This means 32 million people will lose their health insurance. Premiums will go up by 10 percent with people in the individual market. This is going to exacerbate incoming wealth at a time when we have to protect the middle class and working families.”

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Sanders also sounded off against the FCC’s vote to end net neutrality provisions, saying it’s “almost unspeakable” to speak about what a disaster the ruling will create.

“The internet has been a real effort to enhance democracy and level the playing field in this country,” he said. “It means that if you are a small business person right now, you were a start-up company, you can use the internet to get the word out about why people should come to your business. You can have the same opportunities on the internet as Walmart does, or as a large corporation … they’re going to do away with that and it’s going to be much more expensive for the little guy to play and compete against the big corporations.”

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments.

12/12 Trump Cyberbullies Again, GOP Plays Ping Pong with Tax Plan, Special Election for Senate in AL –Update: Winner is Doug Jones

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Greetings Birdies! Today has been full of vitriolic commentary and game playing. As reported earlier today, Fats the Dummy Trump could not ignore a NY senator’s criticism about him (or a public demand to resign) and decided to re-enter the bull fighting arena, twitter. From NYT: President Trump aggressively returned to the issue of sexual harassment on Tuesday, again dismissing his own accusers as fabricators and attacking a female Democratic senator as a “lightweight” who “would do anything” for campaign contributions. The president’s attacks came in early morning Twitter posts after three of the accusers had come forward on Monday … Continue reading →

12/01 News Roundup – Sanders Calls Out GOP Efforts To Cut Social Security/Medicare & More

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Bernie Sanders: Republicans Need to Guarantee They Won’t Cut Entitlements

Sen. Bernie Sanders challenged Republicans not to use deficit increases to justify future cuts to entitlement benefits Thursday in a heated exchange during a debate on their tax reform bill.

Senate Republicans are nearing a final vote on their bill to overhaul the tax code – with the promise that it will help people across the country by reducing rates and boosting economic growth. Democrats and other critics warn the bill mostly just benefits the rich and large corporations. Sanders, while speaking on the floor prior to an expected vote, argued that deficit increases from the bill would be used to justify cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

“It is my absolute belief that as soon as this tax proposal is completed and drives the deficit up by $1.4 trillion, I have zero doubt that my Republican colleagues are going to come back to the floor of the Senate and suddenly say, oh my goodness, the deficit has gone up, we are going to have to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid,” Sanders declared.

Sanders has proposed an amendment to the tax bill that would establish a rule requiring a two-thirds vote in order to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He promised he would withdraw the amendment if Republicans could guarantee to the American people that they won’t make those cuts – singling out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. He yielded his time to talk so they could answer.

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“I will not support any cuts to people who are on the program and need those benefits,” Toomey answered. “But I want this program to survive. We need this program for the next generation.”

Sanders prompting interrupted the senator to reclaim his time, arguing his answer clearly indicates he would cut benefits for future recipients, since he said he wouldn’t support cuts to people who are on the program. Sanders added that people in their 50s could soon see cuts to benefits since they haven’t yet reached retirement age and therefore aren’t recipients.

“He just let the cat out of the box, or whatever the phrase is,” Sanders shouted. “He just told you he’s going to cut Social Security. That’s it my friends. He will not cut it, what he just said is he will not cut it for people who are on Social Security right now. I hear that.”

More news/video/tweets/etc. in the comments, including:

*Whistleblower: Mnuchin’s Touted Analysis Claiming ‘Tax Cuts for Rich Pay for Themselves’ Doesn’t Even Exist
*Bernie Sanders endorses Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia for Congress
*In US and Worldwide, Study Shows ‘Never a More Dangerous Time to Be a Journalist’
*A Newly-Elected Democratic Socialist On How to Win in Trump Country
*Defending the Land, 50 Feet in the Air
*Pipeline news, Water Protector Updates & MOre

GOP Tax Bill & Thanksgiving Open Thread

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Frankly, I would hope that the GOP tax bill doesn’t come up around your Thanksgiving table. Personally, I prefer just enjoying each other’s company, catching up, good food, and as much laughter as possible. But, if talk around the table does turn to the tax bill, here are some talking points/facts to counter the misinformation and perhaps give someone pause who is buying the GOP’s selling of it. Although corporate tax cuts are frequently touted as a good thing, something that would ‘Benefit Ordinary Americans’. That just doesn’t pan out in real life. Sure, the corporations COULD use their windfall to raise … Continue reading →