Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, did not take kindly to some last minute jabs at the tax bill pushed by Senate Republicans from Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH). Brown, a progressive, said that this bill won’t help middle class families, and that it was once again a tax break for the rich.
The House passed their tax reform package yesterday by a 227-205 vote; 13 Republicans voted no. Last night, the Senate Committee on Finance passed their version on a party line 14-12 vote, which paves way for the legislation to make its way onto the floor for a full vote. Hatch torched Brown, saying he felt the ‘GOP favored the wealthy’ is overused by members on his side of the aisle. Moreover, he added that he has spent his whole career fighting for people with fewer chances, and that he himself came from poverty (via CBS News):
The Finance Committee approved the bill along party line 14-12, with not one Democrat voting for it. Like the House measure, it would slash the corporate tax rate and reduce personal income tax rates for many.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said earlier this week that he plans to bring the bill to the Senate floor after the Thanksgiving recess. The Senate adjourned Thursday night for Thanksgiving and will reconvene on Monday, Nov. 27. But it remains unclear if Republicans have the votes for it to pass.
The Senate package adds a key feature not in the House version: repeal of the Affordable Care Act's requirement that everyone in the U.S. have health insurance. Elimination of the so-called individual mandate would add an estimated $338 billion in revenue over 10 years that the Senate tax-writers used for other tax cuts.
The Senate panel's vote came at the end of four days of often fierce partisan debate. It turned angrily personal for Chairman Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) as he railed against Democrats' accusations that the legislation was crafted to favor big corporations and the wealthy.
"I come from the poor people. And I've been working my whole stinking career for people who don't have a chance," Hatch insisted.
“I really resent anybody saying that I’m just doing this for the rich. Give me a break!” said Hatch who was visibly angry by Brown’s remarks. “I think you guys overplay that all the time and it gets old. And frankly, you ought to quit it,” he added, as Brown looked on with a smirk on his face.
Brown tried to respond, but was cut off by Hatch who snapped that he wasn’t finished.
“It’s a nice political play, but it’s not true,” said Hatch, which prompted Brown to say that he’s tried of seeing the rich get richer, while the middle class gets nothing. There’s a lot of cross chatter as one member is yelling into the microphone calling for regular order, with Hatch slamming the gavel to cut off Brown.
“Listen, I’ve honored you by allowing you to spout off here. And what you said was not right,” snapped Hatch. “That’s all I’m saying. I come from the lower middle class originally; we didn’t have anything, so don’t spew that stuff on me. I get a little tired of that crap.”
The Utah Republican voiced how both parties could work together on a host of issues and probably end up agreeing on how to solve most of them. Hatch touted his reputation of being someone who has worked with Democrats, though the antics from the Democrats have made this all but impossible thus far.
“Now, all I can say is I like you personally very much, but I’m telling you, this bull crap that you guys throw out here really gets old after a while and to do it right at the end of this was just not right,” yelled Hatch. “And I just—it takes a lot to get me worked up like this.”
Hatch’s colleague from Iowa, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) then implored him to call the roll.
Narrator: The Republican plan cuts taxes for the middle class. https://t.co/2P7O9EN3Nh
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) November 17, 2017
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