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Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) may represent Montana – a traditionally red state – but the Democrat pulled no punches today when he talked about how blue he is feeling over Trump’s tax legislation – approved by Congress this week with only Republican votes.
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“We just passed one of the shittiest bills that’s ever come in front of the Senate last night,” said Tester, “so you know the country’s seen better days.”
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Tester’s comments were first reported by Washington Post reporter Ben Terris:
"We just passed one of the shittiest bills that’s ever come in front of the Senate last night… so you know the country’s seen better days."
-Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from a red state up for reelection.
— Ben Terris (@bterris) December 20, 2017
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Tester had spoken out previously about how the bill was written and moved forward without the usual committee work, public hearings, or even time to read it.
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In a video that went viral earlier this month, Tester discussed his frustration at being handed a huge, complicated bill with handwritten notes in the margins, with little time to analyze it before it came up for a vote.
I was just handed a 479-page tax bill a few hours before the vote. One page literally has hand scribbled policy changes on it that can’t be read. This is Washington, D.C. at its worst. Montanans deserve so much better. pic.twitter.com/q6lTpXoXS0
— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) December 2, 2017
Tester’s anger come through, at both the way the tax bill was handled and what it does – as he says, “It’s going to shift money from the middle class to the rich.”
Tester is also right that the country has “seen better days” because there was a time when Republicans, even with a majority in both houses of Congress and a very red president, would make some effort to work together on a plan that will impact every citizen.
Instead, the Republicans have acted like an authoritarian regime, stuffing this terrible, damaging bill – that will saddle our children with a huge national debt for generations to come – down the throats of all Americans, just to repay their billionaire donors with tax breaks that they don’t need.
As Tester said last week after the House approved a version of the tax bill:
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“The House just voted to dump up to $2.2 trillion in debt on our grandkids, impose higher taxes on millions who make $75 by 2027 and trigger $25 billion in Medicare cuts. Montanans deserve better than this Washington boondoggle.”
The idea that this “trickle down” approach will bring jobs is no truer today than when President Ronald Reagan tried it in the 1980s, and it did not have the impact they promised.
When there is no attempt at working across the aisle with Democrats, no compromise, loads of last-minute favors to lobbyists and cronies stuffed into the law, there is no choice for the American people but to begin a movement today to vote them all out next November.
The American public has a notoriously short memory but after this April 15, there should still be enough anger and frustration left to carry through November – and vote the rascal out.
I just got done chatting with @chrislhayes about the impact that this tax giveaway will have on the next generation of Montanans. #mtpol pic.twitter.com/JyzAlaNnEk
— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) December 20, 2017
