Republicans have been busy reconciling the House and Senate versions of the GOP tax bills recently, and the final version released on December 15th is the perfect Christmas gift for corporations and the wealthy. The GOP has stooped to new lows with their efforts to secure sufficient Republican support to guarantee passage when this piece of legislative crap comes up for a vote, pandering to senators Susan Collins, Bob Corker and Jeff Flake, in particular.

Historic political/procedural norms be damned – this travesty is the moral equivalent of a “smash and grab” committed by Republicans, all of which should be summarily ejected from office at the earliest opportunity. Can you say 2018 mid-term elections?

I’ll start with Paul Krugman’s opinion piece in today’s New York Times, where he questions the motivations, claiming:

…politicians willing to add a trillion dollars to the debt can hand out enough goodies to make their plans popular, at least for a while.

The New York Times Editorial Board agrees with Mr. Krugman, noting:

The tax bill’s generosity toward real estate titans stands in stark contrast to its stinginess toward the average wage earner as well as its very real damage to taxpayers in high-cost states.

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin justifiably lambasts Senator Bob Corker’s and Senator Susan Collins’ feeble attempts to rationalize their flip-flop on the tax bill, explaining why they’ve both capitulated:

We can speculate on the reasons — political peer pressure, self-interest, keeping a political future alive, the potential absence of two GOP senators due to health concerns, etc.

The Editorial Board at the Washington Post opines as to Corker’s specious claim he was unaware of the benefit neatly inserted to garner his vote, asking:

Is it the suggestion by critics that a key senator dropped his opposition because of a last-minute change that would benefit him personally? Or is it his defense that the provision didn’t influence his support for the legislation because he never actually read the entire bill before changing his position?

Meanwhile, over at the Wall Street Journal, Theo Francis puts a happy, smiley face on this hot mess with the buzzy tagline, “Last-minute changes to the tax-overhaul bill dropped key provisions that most worried companies while raising other costs slightly…” …slightly? Uh, yeah, sure Theo, you really nailed it, huh?

The headline “Middle Class to Get 23% of Tax Cuts for Individuals Under GOP Bill” in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal pimps the proposed middle-class tax cuts, whereas the authors’ enthusiasm seemed a tad muted with the print edition’s headline ‘Tax Cuts’ Impact Assessed.’ for the very same article. ‘droids…

…yup, gotta chase those oh-so-precious middle-class eyeballs, right?

Link to a .PDF version of today’s poster here.