Retrospective: The Republican Wealthfare Act Of 2017

Matt O'Brien has a retrospective on the Republican Congress' only Big Achievement, the 2017 Republican tax cut wealthfare bill passed just over a year ago, and wonders what exactly they achieved:

It can’t be any of the things they promised, because none of those have happened. At least not yet. Indeed, the $5 trillion that President Trump said his tax cuts would bring back into the country has, according to the Wall Street Journal, been more like $143 billion so far — or 97 percent short of his stated goal. Which is why it should be no surprise that the investment boom all this money was supposed to set off hasn’t materialized either. Not unless you think the rather anemic 0.8 percent increase in nonresidential fixed investment last quarter constituted some sort of economic miracle. No, the reality is that business investment is still going up and down more with the price of oil — spending on things such as rigs is a big part of the overall picture — than it is with the tax rate on corporate income. 

It’s almost as if giving businesses more incentive to invest doesn’t matter if they don’t have a reason to invest in the first place. They’ll just buy back more of their stock instead, which, of course, they’ve been doing at a record pace the past year.

So, if an ineffective "stimulus" via corporate tax cuts wasn't really needed for an economy already on solid footing (thanks, Obama!) and salaries haven't seen sustained, commensurate growth as a result, what, again was the Republican achievement? Oh, right:

Which brings us to the real reason that Republicans are so happy that they cut corporate taxes. It’s that they ... cut corporate taxes. For some of them, you see, letting the rich keep more of their money is an absolute moral good. Heck, it might be the absolute moral good. That’s because they’re worried, as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) used to put it before he realized that this type of Ayn Rand-inspired rhetoric is politically toxic, that the “takers” will soon outnumber the “makers” and simply vote to give themselves other people’s money. That’s why, independent of any economic benefits, which we’re finding out may very well be ephemeral, they think that cutting taxes for top earners is good policy. For the less philosophically-inclined among them, though, letting the rich keep more of their money is still an absolute political good. It’s what their donors gave them money to do. And that’s not just a cynical interpretation of events. It’s their own interpretation of them. Republicans were quite open about the fact that they had to cut corporate taxes or their moneymen would cut them off. “The financial contributions will stop,” Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) bluntly put it, if they let their tax bill get derailed like their health-care plan had. 

The Trump tax cuts, then, weren’t so much about the economy as the political economy — and it shows. There’s been very little bang for even 1.5 trillion bucks. (our emphasis)

It's always good to be reminded which is the plutocrat party and how they're looting the country.  This is their quid for allowing Trump to trash our democracy quo.

Pence, Rethugs And The Art Of Ass Kissing (UPDATED)

One of the more revolting aspects of the administration of demagogue and narcissist Donald "Rump" Trump is the constant lavishing of over-the-top, undeserved praise that Rump needs to prop up his damaged ego. First among ass-kissers is his own vice president, the smarmy and spineless suck up Mike "Dense" Pence. Dense gave a performance yesterday in front of Rump and the entire Cabinet that was full of obsequious, ridiculous praise for Dear Leader, thanking him "humbly" and profusely for the job he was doing, while Rump sat across the table with a smug and satisfied look on his face.

Then there was the gathering of Dense and the coin-operated Rethuglicans who gathered on the White House portico to once again lavish praise on Rump for the wealthfare tax bill (also known as the Swamp Prosperity Act). One after another, they sang the praises of the Narcissist In Chief, who imagines himself more like a banana republic authoritarian or emperor than a president. Among the worst were social Darwinist and Squeaker of the House Paul "Lyin'" Ryan who nonsensically complimented Rump's "exquisite leadership," and the despicable old sociopath Sen. Orrin Hatch, who told Rump, "you're one heck of a leader," and saying that Rump might go down in history as the greatest President. They certainly know how to play Rump.

The antidote to this betrayal of democracy and democratic norms is to send as many as these cynical and unpatriotic scammers packing when they're up for reelection. In the meantime, Resist.

UPDATE: To get the full effect of Pence's nauseating performance, here it is:

This Mike Pence "prayer" of thanks to Trump is excruciatingly, stomach-churningly uncomfortable to watch. The ritual submission and exaltation is nearly pornographic. This is not America. pic.twitter.com/FN6y2X2K73

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) December 20, 2017

(photo: Rump and Dense, as foreshadowed by The Simpsons)