Senate Republicans trim tax bill to secure needed votes - Polidicks

[QUOTE=joshuadim;52940099]How many republicans are needed to defect to get the bill to fail? Two? I know there's already one, what are other possible candidates that could defect? If so, how can we contact them to tell them to say this bill is AWFUL and SHOULD NOT BE PASSED.[/QUOTE] 3, pence can come in and break a tie.

They just passed it, 51-49

[QUOTE=TestECull;52939912][media]https://twitter.com/SenFeinstein/status/936797453172465664[/media] This has to be deliberate obstructionism at work, because anyone with a reasonable bone in their body would allow for a thorough study of the bill by everyone voting on it. The GOP is hoping they can force this shit through by making it physically impossible for opponents to the bill to get it read.[/QUOTE] Personally, if I were a congressman, my response to "you have to vote on this soon!" "can I have more time to read it?" "no!" would be "then my vote is 'no'". If they bitch about me voting "no" before I read it, then they have no place to tell me to vote "yes" without having a chance to read it.

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;52940167]They just passed it, 51-49[/QUOTE] America is fucked. And Democrats will get the blame for it when the ramifications come to fruition.

God [i]dammit.[/i]

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;52940167]They just passed it, 51-49[/QUOTE] Are you shitting me? Are you [B]shitting[/B] me?! The same cock-mongling jizz-rags who BITCHED an EPIC fit about "not being able to read the ACA before voting on it" [I]literally[/I] just ram-rod'd a massive tax reform bill [I]without giving many a chance to even read the god-damned thing[/I] and they feel [B]perfectly[/B] okay with this? Republicans, thy name is malicious hypocrisy.

I'm going to do everything in my power as a citizen to unseat as many R's as I can whenever an election comes around, be it local, state, or national.

I'm sure Republicans pat themselves on the back and clap all the way to the bank with this passing. They passed by forcing this through. No peer review. No senate panel review. NOTHING. Now the rich will continue to get richer and the working class will suffer for it. Tyranny of the oligarchy strikes again.

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;52940167]They just passed it, 51-49[/QUOTE] lmao that fast holy fuck

List of names who voted yes? If any of them represent me, I'm calling them up and demanding an explanation.

[i]Major political victory! The GOP sure are good at politics. Man, Trump really letting that strong leadership shine, maybe he IS a good president after all.[/i] [sp]\s[/sp]

[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;52940182]List of names who voted yes? If any of them represent me, I'm calling them up and demanding an explanation.[/QUOTE] Practically every Republican except one of them.

[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;52940182]List of names who voted yes? If any of them represent me, I'm calling them up and demanding an explanation.[/QUOTE] Corker was the only Republican to vote against it. Otherwise, it was straight down party lines.

If all this does not spark a blue wave sweeping congress in 2018, I give up hope of changing the system through this shit.

Republicans: Yeah fuck the poor people!

[QUOTE=J!NX;52940180]lmao that fast holy fuck[/QUOTE] The vote itself was a formality at this point and wouldn't have gone ahead if they weren't absolutely sure they had the numbers for it.

[QUOTE=joshuadim;52940198]If all this does not spark a blue wave sweeping congress in 2018, I give up hope of changing the system through this shit.[/QUOTE] We already saw rumblings of this with the most recent elections. Blue victories across the board, even in typically red states.

This whole budget reconciliation process is fucking bullshit. I watched live as the senate leaders allowed only TWO MINUTES of debate for every single amendment for a hastily written bill that unlike normal legislation can be passed with only a simple majority and absolutely no bipartisan support.

[QUOTE=SGTNAPALM;52940209]We already saw rumblings of this with the most recent elections. Blue victories across the board, even in typically red states.[/QUOTE] I will not rest easy until EVERY crooked Republican is elected or removed from office for their crimes against the American people They are traitors masquerading as "fiscal conservatives"

So this sloppy, thrown together at the last minute bill meant to say "fuck the poor people" was rushed out and forceably passed just so the Republicans can say "hey we actually did something!!!"?

Daily reminder that the Republicans have never and will never actually care about things like debt and the middle class. They are a party with no guiding principles or policy stances beyond personally enriching and empowering themselves or their sponsors.

So what does this mean in the long term anyways and how could it be reversed

[QUOTE=Raidyr;52940224]Daily reminder that the Republicans have never and will never actually care about things like debt and the middle class. They are a party with no guiding principles or policy stances beyond personally enriching and empowering themselves or their sponsors.[/QUOTE] They are a party build by and for the oligarchy to maintain their tyranny and war against the working and middle classes.

I crafted a better bill in my civics class. I'm not in my twenties but I think I even understand that a tax bill this HASTILY crafted and voted on will be an utter disaster for the American people.

The CBO([URL="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/costestimate/53362-summarysenatereconciliation.pdf"]pdf[/URL]) managed to squeak out an analysis at 12:30am. This bill actually raises the deficit even higher to $1.4 trillion over a decade.

[QUOTE=joshuadim;52940228]They are a party build by and for the oligarchy to maintain their tyranny and war against the working and middle classes.[/QUOTE] Not to put too fine a point on it, but while Democrats are generally way better than Republicans, they're bought and sold by oligarchs too. Just different ones from the Repubs. Take their pandering to the regressive left and ask yourself why they'd do that. Ask yourself why they hamstrung Obamacare and made it the flawed mess it became instead of what it was originally designed to do - introduce proper single-payer healthcare. Both parties are kind of shit, but Dems are the lesser evil. Pick your poison.

[QUOTE=archangel125;52940246]Not to put too fine a point on it, but while Democrats are generally way better than Republicans, they're bought and sold by oligarchs too. Just different ones from the Repubs. Take their pandering to the regressive left and ask yourself why they'd do that. Ask yourself why they hamstrung Obamacare and made it the flawed mess it became instead of what it was originally designed to do - introduce proper single-payer healthcare. Both parties are kind of shit, but Dems are the lesser evil. Pick your poison.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't mind the Democrats being put in Fort Leavenworth along with the Republicans, but its clear that the Democrats are the best choice right now. By a massive fucking margin.

[QUOTE=joshuadim;52940264]I wouldn't mind the Democrats being put in Fort Leavenworth along with the Republicans, but its clear that the Democrats are the best choice right now. By a massive fucking margin.[/QUOTE] I'm not disagreeing with you. Just warning you to prepare for the Dems and Repubs being virtually indistinguishable a few years from now.

Even if the Democrats sweep the House and the Senate in 2018 they will be the ones left with a massive deficit and will inevitably be the ones that have to make the cuts in other places to try and compensate for the lost revenue.

[QUOTE=archangel125;52940246]Not to put too fine a point on it, but while Democrats are generally way better than Republicans, they're bought and sold by oligarchs too. Just different ones from the Repubs. Take their pandering to the regressive left and ask yourself why they'd do that. Ask yourself why they hamstrung Obamacare and made it the flawed mess it became instead of what it was originally designed to do - introduce proper single-payer healthcare. Both parties are kind of shit, but Dems are the lesser evil. Pick your poison.[/QUOTE] The Democrats at least occasionally stand for some principle or issue. They have an annoying authoritarian streak with guns that I'd like to see them step away from and I generally find liberal attempts at foreign policy to be naive at best but when it comes to things like technology, communication, the environment, education, entitlement programs, defense, income inequality, and workplace safety that are fairly consistent as a party in supporting these things. They are a center-left neoliberal party, which isn't always great but it has it's perks. The Republicans no longer even have a party identity. As far as I can tell they are thoroughly corporatist and pro-wealthy. They pander to the military and to the working/middle classes then do nothing for them. When it comes to the environment or net neutrality their focus is purely on the private sector being able to squeeze as much money as possible and damn the consequences. They no longer concern themselves with fiscal conservatism and pick and choose what rights people ought to have. It's really difficult for me to rationalize why people vote for them anymore. Are ~50% of Americans really that stupid? If you aren't making a six figure income, what attracts you to the Republican party? Is it guns? Are you okay with your standard of living falling across the board as long as you are sure your gun rights aren't being infringed? Serious question to someone who went to the polling booth and voted for Trump or one of the Republicans who supported this bill: Why?