Republicans Sought to Undercut an Unfavorable Analysis of the Tax Plan

[Drum]

Source: NYTimes

WASHINGTON — A Republican requirement that Congress consider the full cost of major legislation threatened to derail the party’s $1.5 trillion tax rewrite last week. So lawmakers went on the offensive to discredit the agency performing the analysis.

In 2015, Republicans changed the budget rules in Congress so that official scorekeepers would be required to analyze the potential economic impact of major legislation when determining how it would affect federal revenues.

But on Thursday, hours before they were set to vote on the largest tax cut Congress has considered in years, Senate Republicans opened an assault on that scorekeeper, the Joint Committee on Taxation, and its analysis, which showed the Senate plan would not, as lawmakers contended, pay for itself but would add $1 trillion to the federal budget deficit.

Public statements and messaging documents obtained by The New York Times show a concerted push by Republican lawmakers to discredit a nonpartisan agency they had long praised. Party leaders circulated two pages of “response points” that declared “the substance, timing and growth assumptions of J.C.T.’s ‘dynamic’ score are suspect.” Among their arguments was that the joint committee was using “consistently wrong” growth models to assess the effect the tax cuts would have on hiring, wages and investment.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/us/politics/republicans-joint-committee-on-taxation-estimate.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. GOP has made it clear, they have said poor people waste money on booze

and people who dont work should not have healthcare and should be and will be left to die.

Those quotes are attributable to repuKE senators and almost all republicans agree.

[Doodley]

6. If only Dem lawmakers could get that message across.

[Eliot Rosewater]

7. I can pass along a suggestion. I know some folks in my local DNC.

What do they do?

Honest question.

I mean other than what they do now, go on TV or talk to newspapers outlining that this is the greatest transfer of wealth from the middle class and poor to the rich in history.

[FakeNoose]

10. Individuals have said these things

... but it's not the official position of the Republican party.
They know better than to put that stuff in writing.

(At least I hope they do!)

[Achilleaze]

2. republicans PISS on America and it's democratic institutions

Sneaky, lying repubes show no respect for America. Deplorable.

[marble falls]

3. And my cat buries his poop, too. Only his doesn't stink so mach as the GOP tax "reform".

[Wellstone ruled]

4. Bloomberg put the hurt on the

these Slugs this morning with the Sommers interview.

[Doodley]

5. Complain about and oversee the black guy, but the white GOP's recklessness goes unchecked.

[geretogo]

8. The GOP's performance is performing just as any Banana Republic does .

[SergeStorms]

9. HA!

As reported by the New York Times. It's not like it was reported by a reputable news source, like FOX News, or Breitbart. FAKE NEWS!

[Fred Sanders]

11. Since JCT voodoo dynamic tax bill scoring went sour Republicans resort to shooting the

messenger and mounting unicorns instead. Sad.

Every economic model adds minimum of 580 billion to the deficit an as much as 1.5 trillion per conventional not magical models.

What does Grover Norquist say? The RW deficit hawks are hiding in a cone of silence.

[louis-t]

12. GOP always does this. They have no confidence

their plans will be well -received if they tell the truth. Remember the Medicare part D fiasco? baby bush declared he would only sign it if it cost less than $500 billion. Miraculously, it came in at $495 billion, but the actuary in charge of putting the price tag on it was threatened with their job if they told the truth. The actual price was close to $600 billion.

[ThoughtCriminal]

13. The JCT was being overly generous in the growth model estimates

The tax scam will probably pump up the stock market bubble for a while longer. After that expect a big pop and then Great Recession II.

$1 trillion additional debt is way over generous and based on pure magical thinking.

[BigmanPigman]

14. WE, not just the politicians, need to do the work on spreading the word ASAP!

Last edited Mon Dec 4, 2017, 06:35 PM - Edit history (1)

I was part of the Not One Penny nationwide phone call today and you are doing what Ben said we all need to do. The bill is not a win, it is a disaster and we can stop it. There are still a few weeks left and the three things we must do...
1. Attend protests, town halls, etc and make sure the media is there, no matter how big or small it is. The media has been absent due to the non stop distractions. There are many important issues but this is our BIGGEST PRIORITY for the next few weeks.
2. Keep up the CALLS. They started late but eventually their staffers were busy ...call, tell your family and friends in other states to call too. [phone]
https://www.trumptaxscam.org/
3. Social media is crucial. Retweet and share whatever you can. Send it to the media. Events, town halls, protests are occurring and over 100 are planned for this week alone. Bernie, Cory Booker, Indivisible, MoveOn have been going to Kentucky, Ohio and PA all weekend.

New info is already coming out. One new fact since the Fri vote is that there will be 1/2 trillion more dollars added to the deficit. 28% of Americans approve of the Tax Scam. This week Ryan will appoint Repub to his closed door "conference committee" and then we can target those reps. The house and senate have to "negotiate a compromise". What they voted on is different in each chamber. For now we know of 28 Rep congressmen who voted against one of the two bills/plans. We need to flip 23 of them. The Senate will need to be PRESSURED NON STOP...this means calling the 9 senators that were wavering. If we get Alabama we only need two more senators with Corker. This would be great. Also there is the threat of a govt shutdown by Fri., Dec. 8th.
We have been the catalysts of the grass roots efforts for a year and have stopped major legislation. We have a few more weeks until the holidays. After that we have to spread the word about what the GOP has done to the stability and future of our country with this tax cut for the rich and they are taking money from the sick and poor which will bankrupt millions and take over 13 million off of health care. Meanwhile tax cuts for multi million dollar corporations will not be trickling down at all and never will. The bill ensures that the country will be taxed more over the next 10 year (but not the corporations...you and me are paying).
Call [phone]

We must HAMMER them on this bill. Put on the pressure and DO NOT STOP!