Dec 20, 2017

#CorkerKickback: A Perfect Example Of The GOP Openly Using Bribes To Get Votes On Their Sham Tax Bill

Background for context: 
1. Lobbyists Get To Write Laws For $$$. Worst Part? Lobbying Is The Same As Bribery
2. Once Again Congress Is Successful In Protecting It's Shady Insider Trading Deals
3. Paul Ryan Caught Doing Insider Trading!

Bob Corker was against the tax bill a senator/congressman added a provision making him millions and he became a yes vote. A clearer case of bribery simply can't be made. In fact, bribery in politics, particularly Republican politics, has become normal. Corker demonstrates this;

Lawrence on #CorkerKickback in Trump-GOP tax bill Lawrence O'Donnell explains the "Corker kickback" provision in the Trump-Republican tax bill that enriches Donald Trump and Senator Bob Corker, who could be the key vote on the bill. Duration: 11:15


GOP tax bill would benefit the people voting on it A new provision in the final GOP tax bill could benefit large holders of real estate assets, such as Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. Duration: 1:31



This isn't an indirect - though reasonable - connection. This is outright bribery where legislation is created to benefit yourself and your donors the most, harm the rest of the people... 

GOP tax bill set to make rich richer at everyone else's expense Rachel Maddow reports on the extent of income inequality in the U.S. as the largess of the American economy has not trickled down, and shows how the Republican tax bill further enriches the already wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Duration: 14:58



BUT most of all harm the nation with Deficit increases and the false promise of economic growth (since the theory they are using to push thier lies about "growth" was debunked under Reagan). Interestingly enough the GOP USED to argue that any deficit was bad even if there was economic growth. GOP stand for nothing. Not values, not morality and not fiscal responsibility. This should be taken as a given when dealing with a Republican politician.

Lawrence: GOP like 'pigs at the trough' of Trump tax bill Lawrence O'Donnell compares the behavior of Republican Senators who will be enriched by the Trump-GOP tax bill to Senators he worked with who would have been "embarrassed" by serving special interests. Duration: 8:43



Related videos:

Lawrence: Rich get richer in deficit-exploding GOP tax billLawrence O'Donnell explains why the new GOP tax bill helps Donald Trump and the richest Americans, and why Republican Sen. Bob Corker decided to flip-flop and now supports the bill even though it explodes the deficit. Duration: 7:38



Bruce Bartlett: Tax bill helps rich, offers 'crumbs' to families Former Treasury official Bruce Bartlett says the changes Marco Rubio won in the GOP tax bill offer nothing more than "crumbs" off the plates of the rich to working families. He and Josh Barro join Lawrence O'Donnell. Duration: 15:08



Trump White House repeats lie about Trump's tax returnsTrump says he won't benefit from the GOP tax bill, but it's impossible to know since he still hasn't released his tax returns. Lawrence O’Donnell debunks the White House claim that Trump is under audit. Duration: 3:01



Sen Murphy: GOP tax bill a gift to a few wealthy donor families Senator Chris Murphy talks with Rachel Maddow about the Republican tax bill that rewards the very rich and the intention of Democrats to overturn the bill if they take control of Congress in 2018. Duration: 6:09





More Proof Of Corruption/Bribery/etc? - Two weeks ago, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and made a bizarre argument. Eager to defend her support for her party’s regressive tax plan, the Maine Republican, an ostensible moderate, insisted that tax cuts lead to growth, which leads to revenue, which “actually lowers the debt.”

When Chuck Todd asked her for any kind of evidence to bolster her assumptions, Collins’ case crumbled.

And yet, there she was on the Senate floor yesterday, once again making the argument we know to be wrong:
“Tax relief and reform will lift our economy, leading to higher wages for workers and more revenue for the government.”
So, as she sees it, when the government takes in less revenue, it ends up with more revenue.

At face value, Susan Collins has no credible reason to vote for this thing. She urged GOP leaders not to lower the top rate, and they did it anyway. She asked them not to include repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate in the bill, and they ignored her. The Maine Republican also said she expected a vote on some of her health care priorities before passing the tax plan, but settled for a legislative I.O.U. from her party’s leaders. Whether the debt will be repaid is still unclear.

Collins can’t even say she’s doing this for her party, since the Republican plan would pass whether she votes for it or not.

And yet, here we are, preparing to watch Collins vote for her party’s far-right bill, listening to her present arguments that are plainly at odds with all available evidence.

In this case, however, what can be proven appears to be far less significant than what Collins and other Republicans chose to believe. Hebrews 11:1 says faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

With this in mind, the GOP’s tax bill is a striking example of faith-based policymaking.
Republicans say, for example, their tax plan will pay for itself. Confronted with evidence that they’re wrong, these same GOP policymakers say they nevertheless have faith that their talking points are right, and the data and independent analyses are wrong.

They say their tax plan won’t help the wealthy. They say middle-class Americans are the principal beneficiaries. They say those at the bottom of the income ladder won’t pay more. They say they tried to make this a bipartisan effort. They say they followed regular order. They say trickle-down economics will super-charge economic growth.

And in each instance, when confronted with facts and substance, Republicans say they know what they want to believe – and that’s enough.

This makes for an exceedingly awkward policy debate. Democrats say, “Believe the evidence.” To which Republicans respond, “Believe the party orthodoxy.”

It ultimately doesn’t matter what opponents of the plan can prove with arithmetic and distributional tables; this is about the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.


GOP's "Height Of Hypocrisy" Series



GOP Economics


Overview Of The GOP/Republicans


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