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GOP Senate Passes Budget Guideline Clearing Path for Tax Cuts for Wealthy
Senate Republicans passed a $4 trillion budget blueprint late Thursday by a narrow 51-49 vote, with Kentucky's Senator Rand Paul joining Democrats in opposing the measure considered a key step in forward on President Trump's promises of a tax overhaul. The White House praised the bill, saying it "creates a pathway to unleash the potential of the American economy through tax reform and tax cuts."
The Senate budget guideline would explode the deficit in order to provide tax cuts to the largest corporations and wealthiest Americans, none of whom anyone reading this has ever met. The only revenue raised in the budget plan is by opening the Arctic Wildlife Reserves to drilling - SERIOUSLY.
The budget resolution does include a decade of proposed spending cuts and entitlement overhauls. But it's largely seen as a shortcut to reforming the tax code, which Republicans have deemed a must-do after falling short on their attempts to repeal Obamacare.
The measure contains language that sets up special procedures that will thwart any move by Senate Democrats to stage a filibuster on follow-up tax legislation.
"The bottom line on this budget is that it's a right-wing fantasy document that paves the way for a hyper-partisan process on tax reform and trillions of dollars in handouts to big corporations and the wealthy," said Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee
Democrats pointed out during the voting process and thereafter that the GOP Senate budget guideline with massive tax cuts would explode the deficit. That same deficit that Republican politicians and citizens screamed about for eight straight years including numerous government shutdowns and mandatory savage cuts to government programs through sequestration under President Obama. I guess it was never about the deficits, which anyone with a brain knew all along. It's all about cutting taxes on corporations and the wealthiest who donate to keep these politicians in power.
The Senate’s budget allows the GOP’s tax plan to add up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit over 10 years [directly into the hands of the rich], which proponents say will allow for more aggressive tax cuts.
Senators rejected, on a 47-51 vote, an attempt from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to block Republicans from adding to the deficit to pay for their tax reform plan, and an amendment from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to require a Congressional Budget Office score before voting on legislation. Few of the Democratic amendments attracted GOP defectors.
Under the emerging plan... House conservatives would have to swallow the Senate’s plan to grow the deficit [and] forfeit its calls for $203 billion in mandatory spending cuts.
The Senate’s version proposes just $1 billion in new revenue. Senate Republicans plan to bring in that additional $1 billion by opening up oil drilling in arctic wildlife reserves — against using the budget process to steamroll Democratic opponents.
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/19/senate-budget-tax-overhaul-vote-a-rama-243963