Rand Paul has already proven himself to be much more effective than all of his fellow Republicans in Senate – even with six broken ribs.
Immediately after returning to the Senate on Monday, Rand called for a repeal of the individual mandate (the law that requires individuals to purchase insurance) in the Republicans’ tax reform package.
Today I am announcing my intention to amend the Senate tax bill to repeal the individual mandate and provide bigger tax cuts for middle income taxpayers.
The mandate repeal is a promise we all made and we should keep. It also allows an additional $300 billion+ in tax cuts.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) November 14, 2017
Paul continued, “My amendment will fix a problem in the Senate bill where many taxpayers would see a tax increase because of the loss of state and local deductions. I will introduce a similar deduction as the House plan, making the tax reform plan more fair for everyone. This will help ensure House acceptance of the Senate plan as leaders there have stated they will not accept a plan with no state and local deductibility. Repeal the mandate fix problems with Senate bill through more tax cuts for all and help ensure House and Senate plans agree.”
A creative measure for sure – and the only option Republicans really have given that their prior attempts at passing Obamacare repeals have all ended in disappointment. They clearly realize as much in the Senate, and are already moving to fight Obamacare in their tax bill that the House is expected to approve and send to the Senate by the end of the month.
According to the Daily Wire, “the Republican Senate is now moving to include repeal of the Obamacare individual mandate in their tax reform bill. That move is largely designed to quell conservative complaints about the Senate bill, which is weaker than the House version of the same bill: it delays corporate tax cuts, and retains the estate tax; pass-through businesses would see a reduced tax rate, but a smaller reduction than in the House bill; the Senate version would also sunset individual tax cuts out by 2025, and reduce inflation measures, pushing more Americans into higher tax brackets. The House bill itself is relatively weak – it proposed a $300 billion cut in taxes over the next decade on the individual side, compared to $1.2 trillion for businesses over the same period.”
The Washington Examiner explains: “The updated bill appears to accord with the Senate rules. It is a $1.4 trillion tax cut over 10 years that turns into a tax hike over time, raising $30 billion in the 10th year, according to Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation.”
The individual mandate repeal would free up $318 billion in funds over the next decade.
If Obamacare is a structure – then the individual mandate is its foundation, and without it, expect an even quicker implosion. Democrats proved as much during past Obamacare repeal attempts, when they fearmongered over the 20 or so million who would be expected to lose health insurance as a result. What they never seemed to mention in the fine print is that 73% of those who “lost” coverage simply decided to voluntarily stop purchasing it in absence of the individual mandate.
Share this post if you want Republicans to pass tax cuts and repeal Obamacare’s individual mandate!
