The only thing more disheartening than the sell-out by supposedly moderate a.k.a. sensible Republicans in the tax overhaul legislation posing as tax reform, is the complete failure of the Democrats to mount an effective resistance to its passage.
Even a few weeks ago it seemed inconceivable that the Republicans could pull off such a coup. The Republicans were so emboldened that they didn’t even attempt to hide the the trillion plus deficits that the law will produce. Nor did they deny that the massive reduction in corporate and other business related tax revenue would be offset in part by cuts in entitlements including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Make no mistake about it. Nothing short of a complete surrender by the Democrats allowed this to happen.
Perhaps the most contemptible capitulation by the Democrats was their utter failure to prevent the gutting of the Affordable Care Act by eliminating the mandate.
Democrats, whether by distraction, incompetence or miscalculation have abandoned their constituents. If the Democrats are consoling themselves with the idea that they can use this legislative defeat to score victories in the 2018 midterm elections, shame on them. This wishful and misguided thinking is what helped get Trump elected in the first place.
