Tax Bill Passes Senate As Specter Of Government Shutdown Looms

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate burned the midnight oil in order to narrowly pass their version of tax reform. The milestone was anticipated and cheered by the stock market last week, and you’ll see a lot of ‘What the Tax Bill Means For You’ pieces this week. Ultimately, though,  it is certain that the details of any tax bill that makes it to the president’s desk will be markedly different than the senate version as it will fester in the Swam through the conference process between the two chambers.

What is uncertain is whether or not the government will face a shutdown on Friday. To avoid such, the U.S. Congress will need to muster the votes for a short term spending plan at the very least.

“Funding for the government expires on Friday and Republicans are planning to bring a two-week spending measure to the floor.

House GOP appropriators released the continuing resolution (CR) on Saturday morning, which which fund the government through Dec. 22. This will give Republicans two extra weeks to try to negotiate a longer-term deal with Democrats.

Lawmakers in the House could vote on the short-term legislation as early as Wednesday.”

Republicans will have to earn the support of some Democrats to pass such a measure, giving the Left leverage to demand inclusion of any one of their Progressive wish list items. However, we all know that spending comes easier to the Swamp than tax cuts or good conservative policy, so rest assured that a bloated stop-gap spending bill will be approved.

“Some Democrats have hinted at a possible shutdown in order to force legislative action on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program for so-called “Dreamers” who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that a shutdown over the issue is “ridiculous” because protections for Dreamers don’t expire until March.”

How much do you want to bet the RINOs like Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) well be ready and waiting to sell out on legalizing DACA recipients? As often is the case, the real threat doesn’t come from the Democrats, but instead from Establishment hacks like Tillis that will carry their water for them and then boast about bipartisanship.

“The stopgap spending measure would provide more time for negotiations between the two parties over raising strict spending caps that were imposed in 2011 as they try to work toward a long-term spending deal for the 2018 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. In a deal to raise the limits, defense hawks want a sizable increase in military spending. But Democrats are pushing to ensure that nondefense spending is increased by the same amount as military spending.”

Did you catch that? Increased spending all around. This is the problem with D.C. – they just can’t bring themselves to fight for fiscally responsible funding of government priorities while reforming the biggest money holes on the planet. The Establishment Republicans and the Left are hand-in-hand when it comes to overspending your hard earned dollars.

How many times must we suffer through debt ceiling showdowns and temporary budget band-aids before politicians get the message that voters want Washington to employ the same deference to responsible budgeting that we all do in our own households.

Don’t hold your breath.