Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Thursday, November 2, 2017

50 Votes

In order to pass the Plutocrat Enrichment Act of 2017, the Republicans need to get 50 votes in the Senate, so that Norman Bates Wannabe, Mike Pence, can cast the tie-breaking vote.

Which Senator from a state with a high income tax rate will likely balk?

If you guessed Susan Collins (ME-7.15% rate), give yourself a pat on the back.

Who else might be in play?  Interestingly, I might put Tim Scott on the list.  South Carolina has a 7% tax rate, but that might not apply to the retirees in Hilton Head.

Wisconsin has a 7.65% rate, but Ron Johnson is simply an ambulatory spread sheet from the Koch Brothers, so he probably won't crack.

The thing to remember is that you have to make a fair amount for it to be worth it for you to itemize, so Idaho (7.4%) and Montana (6.9%) probably won't qualify.  Still, if I'm a party that gives even a passing shit about wealth inequality, I might be thinking about running ads there.

Iowa has a high rate (8.98%) but low earners and Joni Ernst is a Tea Party nightmare.  Still, see above.  Democrats should go hard on the airwaves there.

Potential fertile ground is in Georgia.  The tax rate is 6%, but you probably have a lot of people in the metro Atlanta area who rely on that deduction.

Arkansas has the same tax rate at Connecticut (6.9%), so work on it there.

All you have to do is peel off three Senators (two if Collins is already lost) and they have to pull out the SALT deduction.  Do THAT, and you lose any shot of making these cuts permanent, because of te Byrd Rule.

Get busy people!

UPDATE: There are 14 GOP House members from California.  There are 9 from New York.  There are 5 from New Jersey.  If 23 votes switch sides, that kills the bill.

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