On the recordDecember 19, 2017
As a member of the Budget Committee, I rise in strong and unyielding opposition to the rule and the Conference Report to H.R. 1, the so-called ``Tax Cut and Jobs Act,'' which more accurately should be called the ``Republican Tax Scam Act.'' There are four reasons why I oppose this cruel and immoral $1.7 trillion tax giveaway to wealthy corporations: 1. The GOP tax scam raises taxes on tens of millions of middle class households and distributes the largest tax cuts to those in the top 1 percent causing $1.7 trillion to be added to the debt; 2. It eliminates or reduces tax benefits that directly benefit the middle class at every stage of life; 3. It results in 13 million fewer Americans with health insurance coverage; and 4. And it adds over $2 trillion dollars to deficit spending, which triggers statutory PAYGO's automatic spending cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicare, which along would see a $25 billion cut. Instead of doing tax reform the Republicans have found new ways for the wealthy who use tax accountants and lawyers to further game the tax payer system by adding new loop holes that are only for the corporations and the wealthy. Corporations receive a 14 percentage point reduction in their statutory tax rate, from 35 percent to 21 percent, the largest one-time rate reduction in U.S. history.…
