Why Dems May Need To Go "Nuclear" To Stop The Repuke Tax Bill

"Hey, , the longer we can bamboozle the base, the better!"

Let's not mince words: the GOP tax "reform" bill on offer is an unmitigated atrocity. For starters:

- The corporate tax cut is intended to be made permanent, and going from 35% to 20%

- The tax cut for average citizens has been designed to "sunset" in 10 year, so taxes will then increase.

- The tax cut benefit overall for those earning less than $75,000 a year, is $100. That benefit may well come at the cost of cutting Medicaid, Medicare benefits later.

- The overall tax benefit is allotted so that 62 percent of the takings go to the top 1 percent.

- As reported by the NY Times there is also a plan to change from the Consumer Price Index to the Chained CPI, which move would essentially negate any future Social Security cost of living increases - certainly in a low inflation environment such as we have.

But, last night this perfidy was at least temporarily stopped in its tracks - even after the GOOPs were giddy after John McCain reverted to sock puppet to back it.  A nonpartisan analysis released hours ahead of a planned vote projected the Republican tax plan would add $1trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade.  Process that! ONE Trillion bucks! That's more than $200 b beyond the cost of the entire Obama stimulus package in 2009, which at least spared this nation from another Great Depression.

The other hit to the Reeps last night came by way of the nonpartisan Senate Parliamentarian who ruled they could not use the "trigger" sunset mechanism to try to contain the deficit explosion. This sent them right back to 'square one' scrambling for other ways to raise revenue,  including reinstating the AMT or Alternative Minimum Tax, and (GASP!) reducing the corporate tax cuts.

Recall the Republicans had contended the vast tax cuts enclosed in their plan would in effect pay for themselves through economic growth. But the analysis, released by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, forecasted the tax bill would balloon the deficit even after factoring in the economic growth the bill is expected to generate.  Of course, through U.S. economic history no tax cuts have come close to paying for themselves.

The other aspect of why this wouldn't happen is that corporate CEOs are not even on board with any job creation, despite the yammering of the GOP con men.  Most illuminating was White House economic advisor Gary Cohn's meeting with dozens of CEOs, and most of them giving thumbs down when he asked about potential jobs, e.g.

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So there you have it. These CEOs would rather put their tax cut benefit money into stock buybacks and paying out dividends than creating new jobs.

To their credit,  Democrats seized on the report by the Joint Committee on Taxation as proof that the Republican tax is all hot air and flim flam, since it would not do what the Reeps claimed. Hocus Pocus. Voodoo economics, to use George Bush Sr.'s term.  Holding a copy of the report, Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, said the analysis proved the bill was nothing more than a “holiday bonanza to multinational corporations and special interests."

Fair enough, but if this piece of toxic crap somehow rises from potential ashes today, the Dems need to do more. They need to use their leverage in possibly stopping a government shutdown to extract concessions.  

Let's first note that the Republicans hold all the power needed to stop a government shutdown on December 8th. They have the numbers, they have control of all branches of government. They do not need the Dems to help them - IF  all their members (mainly in the House) were on board. But, they're not on board. There are just enough rebellious Repukes - mainly Tea Party hardcores -holdouts,  that a shutdown can't be prevented without Democratic votes to stop it.

But should the Dems cooperate? I say NO, unless the 'pukes deliver the following:

-  No spending cuts to try to make up for any unrealized economic growth. That means NO cuts to Medicare, and no cuts to Medicaid.

- Revocation of any tax provision to withdraw the ACA mandate  - which would affect 13 million now covered.

- . No use of "Chained CPI" or other means to cut Social Security to lower the deficits because of the tax cuts.

- $100 b allocated for reconstruction in Puerto Rico.

- DACA remains intact and no deportations of the 60,000 Haitians who've arrived since the Haitian earthquake in 2010. Repatriating them would send Haiti into total chaos since there are neither the resources or job opportunities to provide for them.

- Change  all the "permanent" Corporate tax cuts to temporary ones only. And make them fully contingent on the corporations creating jobs.  No jobs, no tax cuts.

Make no mistake that this is a draconian move but the toxic tax plan on offer from the Reptiles  has the potential to hurl this nation into permanent  third world status  - while dramatically increasing economic inequality.

It is also true that people will suffer in a shutdown, but as Lawrence O Donnell put it on his show two nights ago, "Sometimes principles and governance must take precedence."  That is the case now, when we have to look beyond immediate problems incurred with a shutdown  to the need to prevent more radical, widespread destruction and worse suffering in the future.

See also:

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And:

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