Tax bill looking a little sickly

The days when a powerful Republican leader, say, Mitch McConnell in the Senate or House Speaker Paul Ryan, could send forth a bill and have all the Republican troops fall obediently in line are over. Exhibit A: the tax reform bill that initially seemed tailor-made for Republicans, taking care of their wealthiest contributors with big cuts, looking out for corporations with more cuts and tossing a crumb or two to the middle class – except that many in the middle class would pay more.

Ah, but then some senators decided to toss in to their tax plan a repeal of part of the Affordable Care Act, the part requiring people, generally young and healthy people, to buy insurance or pay penalties. It’s crucial to maintaining the financial health of the system, but the point of the GOP move is to kill “Obamacare” entirely, even if it means millions of Americans would then be without health care.

Now Republicans are starting to don the life jackets and head off the tax reform ship. Some don’t like the consequences of the health care move; others worry that the middle class – which includes a few more voters than billionaires – will revolt against the GOP when they get their tax returns in a year or two.

In other words, in trying to follow the silly, shallow rhetoric of a president with no interest in the fine points of government or in the middle class, GOP members of Congress are realizing they’re the ones who’ll pay the price for Trump’s lousy leadership. It’s what they deserve. But it’s not what the American people deserve.

This story was originally published November 16, 2017 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Tax bill looking a little sickly."