Quote of the Day

Over the course of 2017, both in Congress and in the executive branch, we have watched the task of government devolve into the full-scale looting of America.

Politicians are making decisions to enrich their donors – and at times themselves personally – with a reckless disregard for any kind of objective policy analysis or consideration of public opinion.

A businessman president who promised – repeatedly – that he would not personally benefit from his own tax proposals is poised to sign into law a bill that’s full of provisions that benefit him and his family. Congressional Republicans who spent years insisting that “dynamic scoring” would capture the deficit-reducing power of tax cuts are now plowing ahead with a bill so fast that they don’t have time to get one done, because it turns out they can’t be bothered to meet their own targets.

Meanwhile, in the background an incredible flurry of regulatory activity is happening out of public view – much of it contrary to free market principles but all of it lucrative for big business and Trump cronies.

– Matthew Yglesias
Excerpted from "We’re Witnessing the
Wholesale Looting of America"
Vox
December 19, 2017

Related Off-site Links:
Senator Elizabeth Warren Slams GOP Tax Bill: "It’s Government for Sale" – Brandon Carter (The Hill, December 19, 2017).
Corporations Say Publicly They'll Pocket the Tax Cut, But Republicans Aren't Listening – Zaid Jilani (The Intercept, December 19, 2017).
Senator Bernie Sanders: Trump Tax Cuts a Barely Disguised Reward for Billionaire Donors – Ed Pilkington (The Guardian, December 16, 2017).
Trump's Tax Bill Has Nothing to Do With Economics. It's Brute-force Politics – Richard Reeves (The Guardian, December 18, 2017).
Trump, Tribalism and the End of American Capitalism – William G Moseley (Aljazeera, December 15, 2017).
How America’s Militaristic and Capitalist Culture Led to Trump – Charles Derber and Yale R. Magrass (Salon, December 17, 2017).
America Still Hasn't Reckoned with the Election of a Reckless Con Man as President – Ariel Dorfman (The Los Angeles Times, December 17, 2017).

UPDATES: Republican Tax Bill Passes Senate in 51-48 Vote – Thomas Kaplan and Alan Rappeport (The New York Times, December 19, 2017).
"Government for Sale": In Dead of Night, Senate GOP Passes Tax Bill Only Their Donors Can Love – Jake Johnson (Common Dreams, December 20, 2017).
Congress Passed a Tax Break for the Rich, But Is Not Funding Health Insurance for Poor Kids – Matthew Rozsa (Salon, December 20, 2017).
A Tax Cut That Forgets the Forgotten – Matthew Rozsa (Salon, December 20, 2017).
Trump Will Personally Save Up to $15m Under Tax Bill, Analysis Finds – David Smith (The Guardian, December 20, 2017).
The True Lesson of the Tax Bill: This Country Is for Rich People – Jordan Weissmann (Slate, December 20, 2017).
Yes, America, There Is a Class War, and You Just Lost It – Juan Cole (Informed Comment via Common Dreams, December 20, 2017).
With Eye On 2018, Progressives Vow to Undo the Damage Done by the GOP Tax Scam – Julia Conley (Common Dreams, December 20, 2017).
They Cheered When This Tax Bill Passed: Always Remember That – William Rivers Pitt (TruthOut, December 20, 2017).
How to Make Lawmakers Rue the Day They Voted for This Scam of a Tax Bill – Sarah Anderson and Chuck Collins (The Nation, December 19, 2017).
The Simple Illogic of the Tax Bill – John T. Harvey (Forbes, December 20, 2017).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• With Republicans at the Helm, It's the United States of Hypocrisy
• A Profoundly Troubling and Tragic Indictment
• Quote of the Day – June 28, 2017

Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images.