Republicans were so desperate to give even more tax breaks to their billionaire friends and big corporations that they added a sneaky health care repeal to the plan last night to pay for it.
Turns out, their sneaky repeal is risky and may take their whole tax plan down with the ship.
Uh oh.
The Atlantic: “t could backfire, jeopardizing complicated negotiations over a tax bill and compounding what is already a heavy political lift.”
Bloomberg: “Senate Republicans have tossed a potential bomb in the middle of their tax overhaul bill. […] it complicates the vote calculations in both chambers and hands Democrats a bumper sticker-ready issue they can use to charge up their base.”
The Hill: “A risky play that meets President Trump’s demands but could cost the measure support from centrists.”
Washington Post: “Congressional Republicans are reaching for a booby-trapped bag of cash as they scramble to try to pay for their tax overhaul.”
Roll Call: “A complicated tax overhaul debate got more complicated Tuesday when Senate Republicans injected health care politics into the equation.”
Axios: “It’s a risky maneuver.”
Real Clear Politics: “[Senate Republicans are] adding a controversial debate about health care to their effort to overhaul the tax code before the end of this year.”
NPR: “The decision was a rapid change of direction for Republicans, who previously believed it would be politically dangerous to add any health care measure to the tax legislation.”
Reuters: “U.S. Senate Republicans on Tuesday linked repealing a key component of Obamacare to their ambitious tax-cut plan, raising new political risks and uncertainties for the tax measure that financial markets have been monitoring closely for months.”
New York Times: “Senate Republicans have decided to include the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most people have health insurance into the sprawling tax rewrite, merging the fight over health care with the high-stakes effort to cut taxes.”