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Why Health Repeal Failed But the Tax Bill May Succeed
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How an Unequal Tax Bill Grew More Unequal
Washington Post: “When Senate Republicans introduced their tax bill in mid-November, they faced competing interests: Some senators thought it wasn’t generous enough for working-class families. Others thought it didn’t deliver enough to business owners.”
“As Republicans moved closer to a final vote on the bill Friday night, they made several tweaks to the tax legislation. They announced more benefits for business owners, particularly wealthy ones, but they voted down a proposal by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mike Lee (R-UT) to give low-income families a bigger tax break.”
“The disparate treatment underlined how the legislation — a massive rewrite of the individual and corporate tax code — has evolved since its first incarnation: What began as an effort that would favor wealthy individuals and corporations became, in many ways, even more tilted in their favor as the legislation made its way through the Senate.”
Quote of the Day
“Any handwriting experts out there? I’d like to know what this says before they call for a vote.”
— Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), on Twitter, as Senate Republicans rushed to make changes and vote on their tax bill late last night.
Jones Has Small Edge In New Alabama Poll
A new Washington Post-Schar School poll in Alabama finds Doug Jones (D) leading Roy Moore in the U.S. Senate race, 50% to 47%.
“The survey shows that allegations of improper sexual behavior against Moore, a former Alabama chief justice, hang heavily over a race that would favor a Republican under ordinary circumstances in this deeply conservative state.”
Senate Passes Massive Rewrite of Tax Code
“The Senate passed the most sweeping tax rewrite in decades early Saturday, with Republicans lining up to approve an overhaul that will touch almost every corner of the United States economy, affecting families, small business owners and multinational corporations, with the biggest benefits flowing to the highest-earning Americans,” the New York Times reports.
“Senators voted 51-49, as Republicans approved the nearly 500-page bill in the early morning hours after lawmakers received a rewritten version, which contained significant changes from the original bill that passed two Senate panels last month along party lines. The last-minute revisions prompted an outcry from Democrats, who said it was impossible — and irresponsible — for lawmakers to read and digest a significant piece of legislation in such a short period of time.”
Washington Post: “This time, urged on by donors and fearful of facing voters in next year’s midterm elections without a legislative achievement to show, Republicans said time and again that failure was not an option.”
Gowdy Settled Wrongful Termination Suit for $150K
“As chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) used $150,000 in taxpayer dollars to settle with a former aide who alleged he was fired in part because he was not willing to focus his investigative work on Hillary Clinton,” the Washington Post reports.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The Republican tax plan is the rare piece of legislation that manages to provide something for nearly everyone to hate.”
— Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders’ former campaign managers, Robby Mook and Jeff Weaver, in a joint memo.
Flynn Plea Caught White House Off Guard
Politico: “Trump told associates as recently as last weekend — while he was visiting his Mar-a-Lago resort for Thanksgiving — that he isn’t worried about the outcome of Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, which has grown to encompass his response to the investigation.”
“But there is a growing sense of dread among Trump’s closest confidants that the noose is tightening — if not around the president, then around his closest advisers and family members.”
Said one person close to the White House: “What they’re freaked out about is that there are no leaks. Papadopoulos didn’t leak. Flynn didn’t leak. They feel like they can’t trust anyone. Their own counsel didn’t know.”
Lawfare has a “quick and dirty” analysis of the Flynn plea.
Still Waiting for the Final Tax Bill
Ken Rudin: “It fascinates me that we don’t even have the final language yet for the Senate tax bill but Republicans say they have the votes to pass it. Why not just call for a vote now and write the bill some other time?”
We now expect the final vote to be 51 to 49, with Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) as the only Republican voting against the legislation.
Why Flynn Was Charged With Only One Count
Former federal prosecutors told TPM that special counsel Robert Mueller made a calculated move to keep Michael Flynn’s charge limited:
“What’s interesting to me is what he’s not charged with,” said Steven Miller, a former anti-corruption federal prosecutor. “This is a very narrowly drawn structural plea bargain. By virtue of a single count he can’t get more than a five-year sentence. You don’t get that unless you’re giving something serious to the government. And the number of players left are relatively small: it’s Jared Kushner, it’s Donald Trump Jr., it’s the Trump campaign, and it’s the President. So I think this is something that would cause all of them to be extraordinarily worried.”
“It’s a neon sign that there’s massive cooperation underway by Flynn,” Miller added.
‘Lock Him Up!’
Michael Flynn was greeted with familiar chants as he left the courthouse after pleading guilty today.
Trump Denies He’ll Soon Fire Tillerson
President Trump tweeted that reports he would soon fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were “fake news,” and that “I call the final shots,” the New York Times reports.
The tweet came just hours after Tillerson called reports that the White House wants him to resign “laughable.”
Kushner Is Said to Have Ordered Flynn to Contact Russia
“Former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s guilty plea Friday for lying to the FBI is alarming news for Donald Trump. But the first person it’s likely to jeopardize will be the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner,” Bloomberg reports.
“Two former officials with the Trump transition team who worked closely with Flynn say that during the last days of the Obama administration, the retired general was instructed to contact foreign ambassadors and foreign ministers of countries on the U.N. Security Council, ahead of a vote condemning Israeli settlements. Flynn was told to try to get them to delay that vote until after Barack Obama had left office, or oppose the resolution altogether.”
Farenthold Settled Harassment Claim with Taxpayer Funds
Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) “used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought by his former spokesman — the only known sitting member of Congress to have used a little-known congressional account to pay an accuser,” sources told Politico.
“Lauren Greene, the Texas Republican’s former communications director, sued her boss in December 2014 over allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment.”
‘We Have the Votes’
After a closed door meeting with Republican senators to discuss the tax bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) walked out and told reporters, “We have the votes.”
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) put out a statement saying he will support the bill.
Flynn Promised ‘Full Cooperation’ with Mueller
ABC News: “Flynn’s plea signals the former top adviser to President Trump is now cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team. A brief statement released by Mueller’s team Friday morning does not say what information Flynn has provided the government as part of the deal, but people familiar with the agreement told ABC News Friday he has made a decision to assist investigators.”
“The general told confidants about his decision to plead guilty in the last 24 hours, according to people close to Flynn, who say the former adviser feels President Trump has abandoned him and has agreed to answer questions about the president or anyone else.”
America Is Trapped in Trump’s Delusional World
Andrew Sullivan: “This past week was, in some ways, the most potent distillation of the Trump era we have yet encountered. This is not because any single incident is worse than any previous one over the past year. It’s because the last few days have brought all of them together in a new, concentrated way — a super-storm, as it were, of liberal democratic destruction.”
“We have deranged tweeting; truly surreal lies; mindless GOP tribalism; evangelicals making excuses for the molestation of minors; further assaults on the free press; an unprecedented attack on the most reliable Atlantic ally; the demonization of personal enemies; stupendous tribal hypocrisy with respect to sexual abuse; the White House’s endorsement of a foreign neo-fascist hate group; the vengeful hanging out to dry of a Cabinet member; and the attempt to pass a catastrophic omnibus piece of legislation in one mad, blind rush in order to get a ‘win.’ And all in a few days!”
“Give such a man the power and trappings of the most powerful office on earth, give him a few months, and such delusions will get worse. Sane men and women are corrupted by the wielding of power; a psychologically disturbed figure from the get-go will degenerate into deeper and deeper forms of madness.”
