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Taxes Tag

President Donald Trump will sign the tax bill before he leaves for his Christmas vacation. At the last minute, Trump allowed in pool reporters. Trump will also sign the continuing resolution that will keep the government afloat through January 19.

The House of Representatives has passed the tax reform bill again sincethe Senate stripped two provisions in the bill because it violated Senate rules and removed the title of the bill. The Senate passed the revised bill late last night, 51-48, and sent it back to the House. The House passed the revised bill 224-201. Now the bill heads to President Donald Trump.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has overseen what he aimed for his entire political career: passage of a tax reform bill. The Senate will vote on it tonight and if it goes through, it will land on President Donald Trump's desk. If he signs it then the GOP will have its first major agenda victory of 2017 after failed attempts to repeal Obamacare. This bill includes language to repeal the Obamacare individual mandate. But it looks like the House will have to revote on Wednesday since Democrats said three provisions in the bill violate Senate rules.

The drama is almost over as the Republicans have unveiled their tax bill. They are also closer to victory since Sen. Bob Corker (TN) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have decided to back the bill, leaving the Senate with only two undecided Republicans. From The New York Times:
On Friday, as Republicans released details about the final bill, it became clear that the agreement would provide deep and longstanding tax cuts for businesses, while providingslightly more generous tax breaks to low- and middle-income Americans byreducing some benefits for higher earners.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), both of which said they would vote on the tax bill, have both come out as a yes for the bill only a hours before its scheduled to come out. The GOP now has zero senators declaring a no on the vote, but there are still a few undecided.

The GOP's vision of passing a tax bill in the Senate is slowing fading as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has threatened to vote no on it unless the bill expands the child tax credit. From The Washington Post:
“I understand that this is a process of give and take, especially when there’s only a couple of us fighting for it, the leverage is lessened,” Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday in the Senate. “But given all the other changes made in the tax code leading into it, I can’t in good conscience support it unless we are able to increase [the child tax credit], and there’s ways to do it and we’ll be very reasonable about it.”

Republicans in the House and Senate have struck a deal on the tax bill. Details of the agreement have started to leak out as Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said he has confidence it will pass next week. From Politico:
One major deal that fell into place, on the state and local tax deduction, would allow taxpayers to choose a property tax deduction or a deduction for state and local income taxes, up to $10,000 in either case, according to a GOP congressional aide and a person familiar with the process.

The GOP in Congress are no doubt desperate for a victory after the failed Obamacare repeal attempts, but that desperation could come back and bite them. They want to pass the tax bill before Christmas, but all the rushing and late nights have caused errors. From The Washington Post:
Questionable special-interest provisions have been stuffed in along the way, out of public view and in some cases literally in the dead of night. Drafting errors by exhausted staff are cropping up and need fixes, which must be tackled by congressional negotiators working to reconcile competing versions of the legislation passed separately by the House and the Senate.

The Senate voted early this morning to pass a Tax Reform bill. That bill is not yet law, because differences with the Tax Reform bill passed by the House need to be worked out in conference. Nonetheless, this procedural step forward was considered a big win for Trump and Republicans after Senate Republicans could not pass even a weak repeal and replace of Obamacare because of defections. But this time the caucus held together with just one defection, Bob Corker. How have liberals reacted?

At 1:50 a.m. Eastern Saturday morning, December 2, 2017, the U.S. Senate passed a Tax Reform bill after hours of attempts by Democrats to scuttle the bill. Every Republican except for Bob Corker voted in favor, and all Democrats voted against. The Obamacare Mandate, which survived Supreme Court challenge thanks to Chief Justice John Roberts, was effectively repealed as part of the bill. The repeal takes place by virtue of the penalty being removed. If that provision stays in after conference with the House, the Tax Reform would be a double victory for Trump and Republicans.