Senate Republicans Still Don't Have Votes for Tax Bill

[DonViejo]

November 26, 2017 at 8:55 am EST By Taegan Goddard

Politico: “While the House passed the bill earlier this month, Republicans who see final passage as a make-or-break moment for the party are worried about potential turbulence in the Senate, which is expected to vote on its own version this week.”

“Six Senate Republicans are still withholding their support for the tax cut package — enough to tank it — and others in the party said they don’t want the difference-maker to be a lack of good messengers from the White House. And so far, the pitches don’t appear to be helping. A recent Quinnipiac University Poll found that 52 percent of voters oppose the GOP tax plans, and only 25 percent support them.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2017/11/26/senate-republicans-still-dont-votes-tax-bill/

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. The Trump Tower Tax Cuts for the Rich......

will not trickle down to you and me, let alone everyone else getting by in this country. This Bill does more harm than good, especially to the Poor and Middle Class as more Americans find out what is in it.

When one knows that if this passes the Senate and Trump signs it, what this means to Tax payers is this....

LOSS of SALT (State and Local Taxes)deductions
LOSS of Medical Expenses over a certain percentage of Gross Income
LOSS of Mortgage Interest deductions
LOSS of Interest paid on Student Loans
LOSS of funding for Medicare and Medicaid

This bill is nothing more than Economic/Financial Serfdom so that the Poor and Middle Class can work all their Lives in order to own NOTHING. While the filthy stinking Rich(the Waltons, Mercers, Kochs, Addelsons) get all the Tax Cuts and Breaks in order to own EVERYTHING.

[n2doc]

2. But hey, carried interest loophole survives!

And the GOP gets to stick it to Teachers and Graduate students as well!

People are gonna be pretty surprised at their tax bills in a few years, if this passes. And not in a good way.

[CrispyQ]

3. I heard the six GOP possible No's are:

Collins
Corker
Flake
McCain
Murkowski
Johnson - who supposedly has already said he's a no vote

Are there others?

Make the calls! U.S. Capitol Switchboard at [phone]

Tax reform: No! - Even Larry Summers says it's a disaster.
Net neutrality: Protect it! - The Net belongs to all of us, not to a few for-profit corporations.
CHIP: Reauthorize it! - Do you have a heart?

on edit: Another article says that Toomey, Hatch & Paul have issues, too.

[Honeycombe8]

6. I read that Murkowski is on board. People thought she wouldn't be...

because of the health care mandate removal being included, but she has said that she's fine with that.

[BigmanPigman]

4. I read the articles and no mention of the "6 GOP" who may vote against it.

I am calling tomorrow and we all must do this. MoveOn, Indivisible, etc have a "Week of Action" planned and The names on my list are: Collins, Corner, McCain, Flake, Heller, Murkowski, Moran, Young, and Johnson. That is 9.
Call [phone] all week long over and over! I have called over 400 times and if you do not live in a red state use Zillow real estate listings for individual states so the phone staffers think you are a constituent who votes. Phone number area codes can be from anywhere due to cell phones so do not worry about that. They never check and it works!.

[Jim Lane]

7. I think that, at one point, Rand Paul was making deficit-hawk noises. (n/t)

[BigmanPigman]

8. Can we count on him? I thought he was going along with the rest of the GOP on this one.

Have his physical injuries changed his position on the Tax Scam/Hellcare issue? Or is he being "iffy" on this?

[Jim Lane]

9. I don't think we can count on any of them.

Many of them will talk a good game, to try to pose as guardians of fiscal responsibility -- but then they'll fold under pressure from the 1%, or they'll sell out to some goodie that especially benefits their state.

The good news is that, assuming all the Democrats and independents stay solid, we need only three Republican defectors to sink the plan (two if Doug Jones wins and is seated before vote).

[BigmanPigman]

10. I was told that we (Indivisible, MoveOn, Bernie, etc.) just

need to delay the vote. Is the Alabama vote on Dec 12th? I know that McConnell can't be trusted and moves the vote deadlines and rules for votes constantly. Do you know what their current schedule is for now (knowing that is can change it any second they choose to do so to suit them)?

[Jim Lane]

11. Delay is good for us but I doubt we can do much to effect it

The Alabama election is indeed December 12 but from what I've read it could take a couple weeks after that to complete all the counting and certification procedures to get Jones sworn in, even if he wins.

The GOP's goal is to send a bill to Trump before the end of the calendar year. The conventional wisdom is that passing a bill like this, which will involve some votes that can cause a lot of electoral backlash, becomes harder once we're in an election year. That's not a hard-and-fast rule, though.

The current schedule definitely does not include the "regular order" that McCain complained was absent in the attacks on the ACA -- careful drafting, committee hearings, CBO scores of different alternatives, etc. As a practical matter, I think the current schedule is "ongoing backroom deals, bring it to the floor five minutes after McConnell thinks he has 50 votes, and Mike Pence isn't allowed to leave DC for the duration".

[BigmanPigman]

14. I do not trust any ot the GOP...older and wiser I guess.

I definately know McConnell will break every rule in the book and I do not trust McCain to use the same reason for a different bill. The Pence thing about not being able to leave is news to me. This means that the grassroots efforts need to go full speed ahead...Call, write, town halls, protest...it worked before. What screwed up the ACA was the moron's exec order. Now that order is tied up with the Tax Scam therefore we must all get up or shut up. Put your civic rights into action and call All the senators who are on the fence. Here is a list as well as a link if you/want to do more.
Here is my list to call and share with others as well as
A great link...RESIST! Peace.
Call all of them. All the numbers start with (202)224-****
Corker (TN) 3344
McCain (AZ) 2235
Flake (AZ) 4535
Collins ( ME)2523
Heller (NV)6244
Murkowski (AK)6665
Moran (KS)6521
Johnson(WI)5323
Young (IN)5623

Call them all. If you go to Zillow for the individual STATE you can get a local address and zip to use in case the senator's phone staffer needs validation that you are a voting constituent. It works and they NEVER check. I have done it with over 400 calls in the past year. It literally takes two minutes to Google Zillow. Your phone area code doesn't matter due to cell phones. Tell them a personal story. Also, here is a useful link to share...
https://www.trumptaxscam.org/
THANKS!

[Jim Lane]

15. Let me clarify that the Pence thing is just my speculation

It's not at all impossible that, as with DeVos's confirmation, the floor vote on the tax bill will be precisely 50-50. If that happens, they'll need Pence on hand to break the tie. If Pence is off courting big-money donors in San Diego or wherever, then they couldn't vote until his return, and the 50-vote coalition might be so fragile that a day's delay gives one of the Senators time to have second thoughts.

[BigmanPigman]

16. Ooooohhhhh, I live in San Diego.

Maybe if it comes down to his being on the floor in person to cast a deciding vote, all the anti-Moron citizens can prevent him from leaving the city if he does come here. I will have to check in with my grass roots groups . I know it would be a bit dramatic but I could lay my body on the tarmac with the flag covering my body to prevent his plane from taking off....I am kidding (sort of).

[Gothmog]

17. Paul Will Support the GOP Tax Plan

Do not rely on Rand Paul for anything https://politicalwire.com/2017/11/27/paul-will-support-gop-tax-plan/

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wrote for Fox News that he will vote for the GOP tax bill:

I spoke out all year against the GOP leaders’ initial plan to make their tax reform “revenue neutral” — meaning not really a cut. I’m pleased to see my point of view has prevailed, and the current tax plan calls for a $1.5 trillion cut over the next ten years. I would have liked to see more — in fact, I offered an amendment to move it up to $2.5 trillion — but I’ve stated many times that as long as it is a real cut, I’ll vote for it, even if it isn’t as large as I would prefer.

[DallasNE]

5. Boy, I Sure Hope They Don't

The GOP has painted themselves into a corner so they feel compelled to vote for whatever bill comes before them. That is no way to run a government.

This bill has every gimmick in the kitchen sink thrown in there. The end result will be pretty much the opposite of what the GOP claims. It will slow growth by taking money out of the pockets of consumers. It will explode the deficit. It switches to chained CPI which means seniors will not get the full annual COLA increases. It sharply reduces Medicare and Medicaid payments, taking still more money out of the economy. This is the second coming of Smoot-Hawley, except it is on taxes rather than trade. Get prepared for a repeat of the 1930's, folks. This bill is that much of a turkey. And to think, only 6 Republicans have any reservations. Thanks Citizens United.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. That's the scariest thing about the current Republican Congress

Nearly all of them will blindly vote for whatever is presented to them with very few exceptions.

[maxrandb]

13. Well, as the Mob used to say

When the billionaires buy someone, "he stays bought"

[Gothmog]

18. Tax reform hangs in balance in critical week for GOP

The deficit hawks will have a hard time with this bill https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/27/republican-tax-plan-congress-260058

The leadership is juggling objections from multiple pockets of the Senate Republican Conference and is running short of time to convince the holdouts as Republicans try to close out a frustrating year for their policy agenda with a major legislative accomplishment.

An influential and independent-minded bloc of deficit hawks, including Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona, have aired deep concerns about the tax bill’s red ink, even accounting for any economic growth that a tax overhaul might generate. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jerry Moran of Kansas have voiced concerns about including in the tax proposal language that would repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), so far the only declared “no” on the tax legislation, has argued that the overhaul unfairly disadvantages small businesses. To fix the bill to his liking, the changes would likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has expressed similar concerns on so-called pass-throughs, according to Republicans.