To BBB or Not to BBB, Scene 2
The Big (and not really) Beautiful Bill keeps crossing hurdles due to the power of Trump
The so-called Big Beautiful Bill passed the US Senate by the narrowest of margins on Tuesday. The House of Representatives may vote on it on Wednesday. But it’s no sure thing.
The Senate’s changes that mostly weren't as good as the changes first proposed in that chamber. Now the bill adds more to the deficit (though the original and current estimates of several trillion dollars in new deficit is utter nonsense that assumes this is a big tax cut rather than an extension of current rates) and may have serious trouble with the fiscal hawks (for whom I'm very grateful) in the House.
I suspect that to pass the bill the House will make some changes and send it back to the Senate. I hope so.
One change the Senate made at the last minute is worth noting positively: I’m fully on board with eliminating cash-transfer subsidies to “renewable energy.” Let them have the equivalent of whatever tax breaks other forms of energy get, but not these massive direct subsidies. If it’s as cheap as they say, then they’ll stay in business and do fine without mortgaging our children’s futures with tens or hundreds of billions of dollars added to the national debt. BUT, the provision that would have taxed the energy production of renewables where the systems contained Chinese parts was one of the stupidest things I’ve heard in quite a while, and that’s saying something in our very stupid era. It seemed more like another boneheaded Peter Navarro idea, part of a trade war rather than part of good energy or tax policy. Anyway, the Senate removed it, so thank God for small favors, right?
One Republican senator told me yesterday (just before voting yes), "this bill is a shit sandwich" but that I should expect more spending cuts in later bills because this is really a tax bill, not a spending bill. We'll see. Republicans always find a way to let me down when it comes to spending discipline.
Rand Paul has it right
If this guy hates the bill, it must have at least some good stuff in it. Chris Murphy isn’t the worst Dem in the Senate, but he’s one of the worst when you multiply his bad ideas by how much he talks.