Senate advances disastrous new tax bill. Here’s what you need to know.

“The federal treasury is being looted tonight.”

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Early Saturday morning, in a late night vote most likely timed to try and quiet the uproar that would follow, the Senate voted 51 to 49 to pass the GOP Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Because of a decision by Republican lawmakers, Senators were not allowed to read the text of the massive bill before voting on it. They received the text of the bill just before the vote, with no time to read the 500-pages of legislation.

The GOP rushed the process so much, that even the Joint Committee on Taxes, the bipartisan body tasked with scoring this kind of legislation, couldn’t release their analysis of the bill until after it had passed.

Senator John Tester (D-MT) tweeted that he received the bill 25 minutes prior to the vote.

Additions were being made so last minute that they were scribbled onto paper copies of the bill as Senators scrambled to review the legislation before the vote.

Only one Republican, Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) voted against the bill. Not one Democrat voted for it.

So what’s the big deal?

The tax bill will cost $1.4 trillion dollars and will be detrimental to middle and lower class families. The bill overwhelmingly favors corporations and the 1% by offering them huge tax breaks.

All analysis shows that the bill will cost over a trillion dollars and will not deliver on any of the GOP’s promises to promote growth or raise revenue.

What’s more, the GOP snuck several additions into the legislation that have nothing to do with tax reform, but everything to do with the GOP agenda, such as:

  • Eliminating Obamacare’s individual mandate, which is expected to cause 13 million people to lose insurance coverage.
  • Including a provision under college savings accounts that specifies an “unborn child” as a “child in utero”, which is the GOP’s “back-door attempt to establish personhood from the moment of conception.” This would be the first use of the tax code to promote fetal personhood in history.
  • Allowing for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
  • Cutting funding for public schools while creating massive benefits for private and religious schools.
  • Removes the limit that kept nonprofits from being able to endorse politicians. Now people like the Koch Brothers can get millions in tax breaks for their political contributions.
  • Blocks people from deducting interest paid on their student loans.

In the words of Senator Bernie Sanders, “The federal treasury is being looted tonight.”

According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the tax plan will costs almost $1.5 trillion and generate around $400 billion worth of growth, leaving the net cost of the plan more than $1 trillion.

They also found that only 62 percent of Americans would get a tax cut worth $100 or more in 2019, the remaining 38 percent would pay either the same amount in taxes or see their taxes rise.

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Alexandra Jacobo is a dedicated progressive writer, activist, and mother with a deep-rooted passion for social justice and political engagement. Her journey into political activism began in 2011 at Zuccotti Park, where she supported the Occupy movement by distributing blankets to occupiers, marking the start of her earnest commitment to progressive causes. Driven by a desire to educate and inspire, Alexandra focuses her writing on a range of progressive issues, aiming to foster positive change both domestically and internationally. Her work is characterized by a strong commitment to community empowerment and a belief in the power of informed public action. As a mother, Alexandra brings a unique and personal perspective to her activism, understanding the importance of shaping a better world for future generations. Her writing not only highlights the challenges we face but also champions the potential for collective action to create a more equitable and sustainable world.

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