Senate Republicans Pass 2018 Budget Resolution But Real Tax Reform Seems Unlikely

Republicans just bought themselves more time.

With the Sept. 30th deadline coming up on the ability to use reconciliation – passing fiscal bills in the Senate with a simple majority rather than 60 votes – to pass major legislation, Senate Republicans approved of a budget resolution today that allows them to use reconciliation in the 2018 fiscal year. The fiscal year will run from October 1, 2017 to September 30, 2018.

Now, why is that $1.5 trillion significant? Because the GOP’s proposed tax reform plan will cut taxes by $1.5 trillion.

Coincidence? Hardly.

After Republicans wasted the year failing to repeal Obamacare or enact tax reform, this resolution gives the GOP a chance to fulfill at least one promise: the holy grail of completely reworking the tax code to lower rates and eliminate loopholes.

This kind of deep tax reform has been a Republican campaign promise for decades. Every election year, candidates announce their intention to take a chainsaw to our current tax code, promising that one day we’ll mail in our taxes on a postcard. It’s a wild wish, and one that, if enacted, would be a boon to the economy, not to mention a huge relief to everyday Americans who struggle to prepare their taxes every year.

But here’s the thing: It ain’t happening. You’ll see why in a minute. But first, a news recap.

This week, President Trump and congressional Republicans announced an ambitious tax reform plan to major fanfare. The details are as follows:

• Reduce current tax rates to 12%, 25%, and %35
• Increase the standard deduction to $24,000 for married couple and $12,000 for individuals
• Repeal the estate tax, aka the “death tax”
• Increase the child tax credit to an amount Congress determines
• Repeal the alternative minimum tax
• Greatly reduce itemized deductions, including state and local taxes
• Preserve mortgage tax credit, and deductions related to charity giving and retirement savings

That last part is where you need to be wary. The GOP talks a good game about reducing tax deductions to simplify the code. But this will never happen. That’s because it’s through tax loopholes that lawmakers curry favor and donations from powerful interest groups. It’s their grift in legalized bribery from politically-connected buddies and lobbyists.

The plain truth of the matter is that there is little incentive for Congress to actually slim down the tax code. Think about it: Why would lawmakers knowingly end one of the avenues they have for soliciting campaign donations? Doing so would be electoral suicide.

Here’s just one way Congress pays off lobbyists through tax deductions: tax extenders.

First passed in the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988, this package included big breaks for various special interest groups. And since it passed, it’s been renewed by Congress without missing a beat, each time being added to. “[T]he reality is that this bill mostly helps the wealthy and the well connected,” wrote Marc Short and Andy Koenig in the New York Times in 2015.

So what kind of breaks did this tax extender package include? The list in mind-boggling:

• $20 million in instant deductions for Hollywood producers
• $95 million for owners of racehorses
• $95 million for motorsports entertainment complexes over ten years
• $10.5 billion for wind-energy producers over ten years
• $22.6 billion for “research” over ten years

That’s just a sampling of the breaks included. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, more than 80% of tax breaks go to businesses.

And we’re supposed to believe Republicans will just give up that kind of bribery?

In all likelihood, what will happen is that Republicans, if they can even come to an agreement on a tax reform package, will make superficial changes to the tax code, and maintain many of the buy-offs that keep them in power.

Remember: 1986 was the last time the tax code was reformed, eliminating many deductions and reducing rates. It only took 30 years for the code to balloon in size again. So any changes made can be revoked sometime in the future. And given the penchant politicians have for purchasing favor with taxpayer dollars, you can bet the tax code won’t stay slim for long.

Popular conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is already calling b.s. on the Republicans’ latest plan, saying “We’re talking about people who don’t want to really do anything on taxes.”

Rush doesn’t even trust the genuineness of the current Republican proposal. He says that, like Obamacare, Republicans set this up to fail. And, as you know, Rush is no spring chicken when it comes to politics. He knows what Americans will support and not support.

So there you have it, folks. On tax reform, it’s damned if you do it, damned if you don’t. Republicans and Democrats are perfectly content with the current system. It benefits them most of all, while screwing over the average American.

On the off chance tax reform begins to gain traction in Congress, watch out, because the results won’t be as rosy as they seem.

What do you think? Do Republicans really want tax reform? Is it all just a ruse? Tell us your thoughts below and share this story over Facebook and Twitter!