Step one: Scream that the GOP tax reform bill would be a "massive attack" on the middle class. Step two: Concede that actually yes, nearly all middle income earners would get a tax break under the bill. Step three: Call for its repeal anyway, effectively demanding a tax increase -- a "massive attack," one might even say -- on middle class Americans and US businesses. It sounds like Bernie Sanders has picked up the same tax hike hymnal from which Nancy Pelosi was singing last week:
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called Monday for the Republican tax law to be repealed after the Congressional Budget Office projected that the deficit will hit $1 trillion in 2020. The CBO projected that the budget deficit will rise to $804 billion for 2018 before hitting the $1 trillion mark in 2020 — two years earlier than anticipated. The national debt is also expected to hit $33 trillion in ten years after it hit the $21 trillion mark last month. Democrats are laying blame at the acceleration of the deficit and debt with the tax law that was passed in December.
Regular readers know that I'm a national debt hawk and have expressed deep frustrations over the fact that neither political party is serious about tackling the looming debt crisis before it detonates. But I've also made the case that spending, not revenue, is the problem. The data bears that out. Entitlement reform is a mathematical necessity, yet one party is adamantly opposed to it, while the other only feigns seriousness on the subject, abandoning the cause when it's inconvenient. Also, it's also downright hilarious to see Bernie Sanders, whose stunningly reckless single-payer healthcare scheme would inflict tens of trillions in unfunded and debt-bloating federal liabilities upon America's budget, pretending that the GOP tax law must be jettisoned due to deficit concerns. It's not remotely credible. Meanwhile, Republicans are running short ads online, including on Facebook, highlighting the day-to-day impact of their tax cuts and warning about Democrats' desire to turn back the clock with tax increases:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is also promoting elements of the law that are helping 'main street' operations across the country -- examples of which have proliferated in recent months, from coast to coast:
Elsewhere in Senate news, Rick Scott has officially jumped into the Florida Senate race against the relatively unknown (and gaffe/fear mongering-prone) Bill Nelson. That'll be a tough pickup in a tough year, but if anyone can pull it off -- while bleeding Democratic resources -- it's Scott, whose job approval as governor is pretty strong. Meanwhile, the current, razor-thin GOP upper chamber majority continues to confirm President Trump's judicial appointments at an aggressive clip:
Look-ahead: Cloture next week on these nominees:
— STEW ?????? (@StewSays) April 6, 2018
Claria Horn Boom, U.S. Dist Judge, E. & W. Districts of KY.
John Ring, @NLRB
John Pizzella, Dep. Sec. of @USDOL
Andrew Wheeler, Dep. Administrator of @EPA
John Broomes, U.S. District Judge, Kansas.
Rebecca Jennings, W. Dist., KY
That was a preview; they're following through this week. In many conservatives' view, this is the most important element of retaining even a tight Republican majority in the Senate. That's certainly more than doable, but not if GOP voters are asleep at the switch in key states.
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