U.S. Senator (Vermont) Bernie Sanders revealed corporation payback under the new GOP tax plan via an exposing tweet on Tuesday. He shared a chart that reveals the millions of dollars corporations have contributed to the Republican party, and the billions they will receive in return as tax cuts. He writes:
This is a tax bill written for massive corporations and wealthy Republican campaign contributors, not for the average American. It must be defeated.
The chart clearly shows the cause and effect that corporation bribery has on Republican party leadership.
Don't expect to see one dollar of the billions in tax cuts to trickle down to you and me.
Rather than discuss the merits of the chart, some people criticized its oversimplification.
Others suggested that we could just boycott these corporations.
Easier said than done.
Do we find ourselves living in the United States of Corporate America?
On a technicality, Sanders delayed the tax bill's passage... for one day.
Sanders and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon delayed congressional passage of the bill until today, citing a violation of the Byrd Rule. The rule allows senators during the reconciliation process to block legislation if it would possibly increase the federal deficit significantly.
After the House passed the bill on a largely party-line vote of 227 to 203, Sanders and Wyden objected to the inclusion of three provisions with no budgetary impact. Those provisions must be stripped from the bill, requiring a second vote from the House before it can advance to the Oval Office for Trump's signature.
“In the mad dash to provide tax breaks for their billionaire campaign contributors, our Republican colleagues forgot to comply with the rules of the Senate,” Sanders said Tuesday in a written statement. “We applaud the [Senate] parliamentarian for determining that three provisions in this disastrous bill are in violation of the Byrd rule.”
While Sanders' efforts will delay the bill's final passage, it is unlikely to change any minds.
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h/t: Twitter