Political Quotes

“later tonight or in the early hours of tomorrow morning, we will vote on final passage of the Republican tax bill. I would like to make two main points about the Republican tax bill in my speech this morning, first on process and second on substance. From the beginning, the Republican tax bill has made a mockery of the legislative process. Republican leaders disappeared behind closed doors and negotiated a framework for a tax bill without a shred of Democratic input. Then Republican leaders wrote a bill, behind closed doors, without a shred of Democratic input. Republicans brought that bill through a markup in the Finance Committee, where it underwent the scrutiny of one--I repeat, one--expert witness. That is it. Finance Committee Democrats offered 60 amendments to the bill, but Republicans rejected every single one. The Republicans on the committee made it crystal clear that they were not interested in bipartisanship. Now that bill is before us on the floor. Even further, significant changes will likely be made by the majority leader today. We will get huge changes in a bill today and try to vote on it tonight. This is tax--one of the most complicated issues before us. These changes, and the way the majority leader is handling this, make it impossible for any independent analyst to get a good look at the bill and how it would impact our country.…”