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Saturday, October 28, 2017

How's This For Even-Handed?

Here's how Politico starts its latest article on the status of the tax reform proposals:

Rank-and-file House Republicans are increasingly alarmed by the secrecy shrouding the massive tax bill their party leaders plan to ram through Congress next month.

How's that for an even-handed approach.  Of course, if you read the full article, you find that the "secrecy" is that there are still some details being finalized on the bill and that the chair of the Ways and Means Committee, congressman Kevin Brady is doing that together with the committee's tax lawyers.  The final bill will be unveiled Tuesday.  It's not exactly secrecy since the members of the committee have seen most of a preliminary draft of the bill although it hasn't be released to the public.

And how about "ramming" the bill through Congress.  First there are going to be hearings and a mark up where the bill can be amended.  That's what happens to all bills in the normal course.  Then there will be votes with ample opportunity to amend the bill again.  It's call passing the bill.  That's not ramming the bill through the House.

When the bill gets to the Senate, there will not be a filibuster since reconciliation will be used.  Again, that is proceeding by regular rules.  There will be hearings in the Senate Finance committee as well.  So there's no "ramming" of the bill through that house either.

Everyone in America who has been listening knows the basic structure of the tax bill, but not all the details.  Those detail are very important, but it won't take too long to understand them.  This is not like a 2300 page Obamacare bill that the Democrats would not release to members until two days before the vote.  For Obamacare, there was no way anyone could possibly have understood the bill and all its ramifications in those two days.  Surprisingly (or dropping the sarcasm unsurprisingly) Politico never thought Obamacare was being rammed through Congress.

Tax policy is a very important issue for the USA.  Can't Politico, just for once, try to present the issues in a fair, unbiased way to let the American people decide for themselves?  Why must everything be reduced to lies told to favor the Democrats.

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