Legislative Whac-A-Mole
It’s as if the GOP leadership team is playing Whac-A-Mole today – every time they add a provision to win over a Senator, it causes them to lose another. Right after the Senate Budget Committee passed the GOP tax scam bill that included a concession made to get Senator Bob Corker’s vote, Senators Kennedy and Thune spoke out in opposition to that add. From Bloomberg:
“Shortly after Republican Senator Bob Corker told reporters that he thought he had a deal with Senate leaders to add a revenue trigger to tax legislation that’s awaiting a floor vote this week, at least one fellow Republican heaped disdain on the idea.”
“‘I am not going to vote to implement automatic tax increases on the American people,’ said Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican. ‘If I do that, consider me drunk. I’m not voting for that.’”
“Corker, who joined 11 other Republican senators on the Senate Budget Committee in voting to advance the tax bill to the floor Tuesday, told reporters he had worked out a trigger provision before the vote.”
“After the committee vote, Senator John Thune also criticized the idea. ‘In the long-run, it’s not in our best interest to have a mechanism that would create a tax increase,’ said Thune, the Senate’s third-ranking Republican leader, in an interview with Bloomberg Television.”
“‘I am not going to vote to implement automatic tax increases on the American people,’ said Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican. ‘If I do that, consider me drunk. I’m not voting for that.’”
“Corker, who joined 11 other Republican senators on the Senate Budget Committee in voting to advance the tax bill to the floor Tuesday, told reporters he had worked out a trigger provision before the vote.”
“After the committee vote, Senator John Thune also criticized the idea. ‘In the long-run, it’s not in our best interest to have a mechanism that would create a tax increase,’ said Thune, the Senate’s third-ranking Republican leader, in an interview with Bloomberg Television.”