Stan Collender: “Individual members are at least hinting — and many are openly saying — that the Republican Party is no longer as important as their personal reelection prospects. That means the bill’s enactment may not be as important to them as preventing locally politically noxious individual provisions — like the deductibility of state and local taxes  — from becoming law.”

“With support for the Republican party no longer a guaranteed political lever, the leadership has little choice but to try to appease senators and representatives by changing proposed tax provisions so the recalcitrant members have something they can take back to their constituents to demonstrate their personal value. But in a tax bill of this size that has budget restrictions that limit what may be done, almost every modification made for one representative or senator typically will cause political pain for another and, therefore, no net increase in support.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) acknowledged “that the Republican tax plan might result in a tax hike for some working Americans, saying he ‘misspoke’ days earlier when he said that ‘nobody in the middle class is going to get a tax increase’ under the Senate bill,” the New York Times reports.

Said McConnell: “I misspoke on that. You can’t guarantee that absolutely no one sees a tax increase.”

“The Senate bill unveiled on Thursday would raise taxes on millions of middle-class families, according to a preliminary New York Times analysis. The plan would also disproportionately benefit high earners and corporations. Still, middle-class earners would fare better under the Senate proposal than its counterpart in the House.”