WASHINGTON, DC - Members of the United States Senate worked in to the morning hours on passage of a 479 page tax reform bill that is being praised by Republicans, and dismissed by Democrats.
According to FoxNews.Com, the eleventh-hour vote-wrangling and related, last-minute changes were highlighted by hand-written, barely legible revisions in the margin of one page of the 478-page document, a situation that Democrats criticized on social media.
The network also reports that the Senate measure focuses its tax reductions on businesses and higher-earning individuals, gives more modest breaks to others, and offers the boldest rewrite of the nation’s tax system since 1986.
Republicans touted the package as one that would benefit people of all incomes and ignite the economy. Even an official projection of a $1 trillion, 10-year flood of deeper budget deficits couldn’t dissuade GOP senators from rallying behind the bill.
“The bill we passed tonight puts us one step closer to bringing tax relief to working families. It will let Arkansans keep more of their hard-earned money and help our businesses create more jobs.’ said Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas). “It’s just what we need to make our economy grow faster. I’m also pleased this bill includes my proposal to repeal the Obamacare individual-mandate tax. This is the cruelest part of that hated law. It punishes over 65,000 Arkansas families and the poor for being unable to afford the insurance that Obamacare itself made unaffordable. Its repeal is long overdue, and I urge the conference committee to include this provision in the final bill.”
President Trump says he hopes to have the bill signed into law by Christmas.
