The childish and reckless way in which Trump influenced the tax bill just got revealed

The Republicans rammed their vile tax bill through the House of Representatives today, but due to their own incompetence, they’ll be forced to vote on it again tomorrow. Three provisions in the passed legislation violate Senate rules. Once a new version is passed tomorrow it will proceed to the Senate, where it’s expected to pass.

Written in the dark without input from Democrats or public scrutiny, the legislation has the greasy fingerprints of lobbyists and Republican donor corporations all over its pages. It represents an unprecedented attack on the middle class which will saddle most Americans with longterm tax hikes while cutting taxes for the super-rich in what constitutes a massive transfer of wealth to the 1%.

It’s class warfare plain and simple, and once again demonstrates how little Republicans actually care about their constituents. They’ve chosen to hide most of the details of the bill because they know that full transparency would result in a massive public backlash, and the legislation is already opposed by the majority of Americans.

Trump will, of course, rubberstamp the abomination once it arrives on his desk even though it’s unclear how involved he was with the actual details of the bill. Past behavior as his demonstrably short attention span makes it seem likely that he at best had someone else skim it and describe it to him.

Now, Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post reports one way in which the president helped shape the bill. Trump had a preposterous, perfectly in-character method for deciding the rates in the regressive bill: he simply made them up because he liked the way they looked on paper. Apparently, Trump thought that his arbitrary preference for round numbers was a good basis for crafting legislation.

Dawsey tweeted:

The horrifying fact that a bill which will fundamentally reshape the economic reality of the entire country was slapped together in such impulsive, haphazard fashion should alarm every American, regardless of political affiliation.

The Republicans, led by Trump, aren’t taking their responsibilities seriously. They’re so desperate to chalk up a victory that they don’t care about the long and short-term implications of the bill. They’ll force it through and let the middle class suffer through the consequences. Remember this moment, vote Democrat in 2018, and encourage everyone you know to do the same.