December 13, 2017
The federal tax code hasn’t been overhauled since 1986, but now Republicans in congress are inching closer to passing a major tax reform package that reduces rates and cleans up most of the special interest carve-outs that have accumulated over the past 31 years.
The debate over this pivotal public policy change has, predictably, descended into partisan hyperbole. Will tax reform cause people to die, bring about the end of the American republic, or even cause the armageddon? It seems like some on the left think it will, including many high-profile progressive politicians and prognosticators.
We asked our Facebook audience to rate the Top Ten Most Outrageous Statements about tax reform on a scale of 1-10, with #1 being the most ridiculous example of leftist outrage. In reverse order, the results:
#10 – “Instead of bread, the populists are told to be grateful for their circuses.” – Catherine Rampell in Washington Post editorial
#9 – “51 Senate Republicans voted to commit one of the biggest legislative heists in history.” – Sen. Chris Van Hollen on Twitter
#8 – “Millennials: move away if you can. USA is over. We killed it.” – Kurt Eichenwald on Twitter (MSNBC, Vanity Fair)
#7 – “This corruption is hollowing out America’s middle class & tearing down our democracy.” – Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Twitter
#6 – “The coup is underway. Make no mistake about it. EVERYONE OFF THE BENCH!” – Michael Moore on Twitter
#5 – “This vote will live in infamy. It eviscerates the last vestige of Congressional integrity and does irreparable damage to our once proud Republican Party.” – Gov. Jerry Brown on Twitter
#4 – “The Senate just killed American families.” – Lacey Hannen (Actress)
#3 – “This evil will kill people and increase human misery so the idle right and other plutocrats can have even more money.” – Chauncey DeVega (Salon.com)
#2 – “It is the end of the world…The debate on health care is life/death. This is Armageddon.” – Nancy Pelosi (NY Post)
And now, the most ridiculously over-the-top (but real) doom-and-gloom statement about tax reform…
“Millions of Americans died tonight. So did the careers of every one of these psychotic drooling animals in the Republican Party who voted for it. This was mass murder. They all belong in prison.” – Bill Palmer on Twitter (The Palmer Report)