Even Republicans hate the tax bill

[struggle4progress]

BY BESS LEVIN
NOVEMBER 3, 2017 12:17 PM

The .. Republican dream to overhaul the tax code collided with .. reality this week as the House G.O.P. revealed a bill, the ungracefully titled Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as ungainly and inequitable as the rushed process to write it ... Thursday’s overdue unveiling was hardly a kumbaya moment for the Republican Party. Already, Republicans are clashing over the details of a bill that would dramatically cut taxes for corporations, boost the rich, hurt many members of the middle class, and blow out the budget deficit ...

... One of the .. sticking points is the bill’s elimination of the state and local tax deduction, which would dramatically raise rates in high-tax blue states. As Bloomberg notes, "the ink was barely dry on the first draft when at least four Republicans declared they would vote against the bill in its current form"—all from New York and New Jersey. The House G.O.P. can only afford 22 defections ...

... New Jersey Rep. Thomas MacArthur spoke ... against capping the mortgage interest deduction rate at $500,000, down from $1,000,000. "Nobody knew that was in there. They kept that from us and I don’t appreciate that" ... Others are concerned that the legislation slashes the corporate interest deduction, potentially hurting small businesses ...

William Brown, president of the National Association of Realtors, said that the bill "appears to confirm many of our biggest concerns" ... Bloomberg notes that Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by the Brothers Koch, is criticizing the plan ... The National Federation of Independent Business said Thursday that it could not support the plan, and the National Small Business Association remains on the fence ...

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/even-republicans-hate-the-tax-bill-they-just-wrote

[BigmanPigman]

1. Some of the GOP said they wouldn't vote to pass their

health care bill and they all caved in the end.

[stopbush]

2. Easy to vote to strip others of their healthcare on the individual market

when most of your constituents get their health insurance through work.

Much harder to take away the mortgage deduction from millions of homeowners, especially when your party has spent decades touting home ownership as a cornerstone of the American experience.

[Angry Dragon]

4. As I understand it mortage interest is good up to $500.000 loan

[stopbush]

7. right, and that impacts blue states where housing values are much higher.

I live in Lake Forest, CA (home of that asshole Rick Warren). A4-bdrm home here goes for $700,000 - $1.5 million in what is considered a middle class neighborhood. My sister just bought a 4-bdrm home in a middle class suburb of Cleveland for $319,000.

If you’re going to cap the mortgage deduction, you cannot use a dollar figure, as housing prices vary incredibly across the country.

[unblock]

3. wow, even the kochs are against it

of course, they're against it because they want even more tax cuts for the rich, but still.....

[bullwinkle428]

5. Well, there's SOME big money behind it, because I just saw a slickly-produced

commercial attempting to say how great the bill is...on MSNBC!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. How many? All about numbers

[Kablooie]

8. It's all posturing. They will all vote for it in the end. Even McCain.