Senate Republicans Pass Historic $1.5 Trillion Tax Cuts And Jobs Bill Despite Democrats Opposition

History was made around 1:00 am on Wednesday morning when Senate Republicans passed a historic Tax Bill by 51-48 votes along strict party lines and without a single vote from Democrats.  The $1.5 trillion tax cut is the biggest tax break in 30 years since Ronald Reagan.

The Bill has one more stop for a re-vote in the House before it goes to the President’s desk where it is expected he will sign it into law, an act that will seal President Trump’s first major legislative victory in office.

Vice President Mike Pence presided over the historic vote which he later descried as a “historic win for the American people.”

Moments after the Senate passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Bill, President Trump hailed the effort and said if the re-vote is approved by the House on Wednesday morning, he will hold a News Conference in the afternoon, which he has already done.  He did so at the same as the House is debating the Bill for a vote which he expects will pass.

“The United States Senate just passed the biggest in history Tax Cut and Reform Bill.  ‘Terrible Individual Mandate (ObamaCare)Repealed. Goes to the House tomorrow morning for final vote,” he tweeted on Wednesday morning around 1:00 am.

Earlier on Tuesday, the House had passed the Tax Cut Bill earlier by 227-203 votes.  Later that evening, senate Democrats tried to stop the Bill by striking several provisions on procedural grounds from the House version of the Bill unsuccessfully as the GOP Senate went on to pass it.

After the House passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Tuesday, President Trump sent a congratulatory message on Twitter to House Speaker and other GOP Congressional lawmakers,

“Congratulations to Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Kevin Brady, Steve Scalise, Cathy McMorris Rodgers and all great House Republicans who voted in favor of cutting your taxes!”

In a matter of weeks, the Republicans successfully managed to offer the largest overhaul of the U.S. Tax Code and proceeded for a final vote without a single vote from Democrats. The signed and amended version of the Tax Bill is now on the House floor undergoing a debate before a revote before the end of the day on Wednesday.

The final version is expected to be sent to President Trump to be signed into law and fulfill his top legislative priority.

“Many of us in this body have been waiting years for this opportunity and millions of Americans outside of this body have been waiting even longer, said the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Utah Republican Senator Orrin G. Hatch.

In two provisions added on to secure needed Republican votes, the Bill also repeals Obamacare’s Individual Mandate, which without it, the plan will eventually collapse in its entity.  In essence, repealing the Individual Mandate means that Obamacare has been repealed – fulfilling one of President Trump’s and GOP’s repeated pledges to ‘Repeal’ the law.

The sprawling legislation cuts the U.S. Corporate Income Tax rate from 35 % to 21%, gives other business owners a new 20% deduction on business income and reshapes how America taxes multinational corporations along lines the country’s largest businesses have recommended for years.

Millions of Americans would stop itemizing deductions under the bill, putting tax breaks that incentivize home ownership and charitable donations out of their reach, but also making their tax returns somewhat simpler and shorter.

The Bill keeps the present number of tax brackets, but adjusts many. It also reduced the top tax rate for high earners while the Estate Tax on inheritances is changed so that fewer people will pay.

After eight straight years of slow growth and under-performance, America is ready to take off,’ said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky at a press conference after passage.

President Trump said that passing the Tax Cut Bill would ensure a “Merry Christmas” for the country.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday also tweeted that , “Stocks and the economy have a long way to go after the Tax Cut Bill is totally understood and appreciated in scope and size. Immediate expensing will have a big impact. Biggest Tax Cuts and Reform EVER passed. Enjoy, and create many beautiful JOBS!”

What’s in the final Tax Bill

 

• Top income tax bracket has dropped to 37 per cent from 39.6 per cent
• Other brackets are zero, 12, 22, 24, 32 and 35 per cent
• ‘Standard’ deduction for non-itemizers nearly doubles
• Interest is deductible only on the first $750,000 of new home mortgages
• Only individuals making more than $500,000 and couples earning $600,000 are in the top bracket
• Corporate tax rates drop from 35 per cent to 21 per cent
• Deduction for medical expenses and student loan interest and an exemption for graduate school tuition waivers
• Ends Obamacare tax penalty for failing to buy health insurance
• Doubles child tax credit to $2,000 for families earning up to $400,000
• $1,400 of child credit is refundable even for families that don’t pay any income tax
• Doubles estate tax exemption to the first $11.2 millions of inheritances
• Opens a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling
• ‘Pass-through’ corporations can deduct 20% of income
• Elimination of corporate Alternative Minimum Tax
• No repeal of Johnson Amendment barring churches and religious organizations from election activity

 

 

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