“The vote — 51 to 49 — was a party line one. (Tennessee GOP Sen. Bob Corker was the only rebel, voting ‘no’ due to his unhappiness with the $1 trillion the bill is predicted to add to the deficit.)”
“Democrats viewed the bill as a giveaway to big corporations and a tax increase on lots and lots of Americans. And because of the unpopularity of both the bill and Trump, they felt very little political pressure to get on board — or even feint at the idea that they might.”
“…The public doesn’t like [the bill] much. A majority (52%) in a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in the middle of November disapproved of the plan, while just 25% approved. More than six in 10 surveyed said that wealthy people would benefit most from the tax plan while less than one in five (16%) said it will reduce their taxes. Other polls on the tax legislation show similar results.”
“What Republicans passed in the wee hours of Saturday morning then was this: An unpopular bill that will add to the deficit and not pay for itself.”
The Washington Post: “President Trump did not follow specific warnings from his national security advisers Tuesday when he congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on his reelection — including a section in his briefing materials in […]
Bloomberg: “Ousted White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon returned to the conservative Breitbart News website on Friday and said he’ll be ‘going to war’ for President Donald Trump, vowing to intensify the fight he has […]
Eschewing his usual public flair, Republican President Donald Trump has surreptitiously moved to deny millions of women access to health care, NPR reports. “Trump quietly signed legislation Thursday that rolls back an Obama-era rule protecting […]