Senate votes on President Trump’s big bill

Senators on Capitol Hill are in what is called a vote. They are voting on the presidential amendment. The final vote on the Trump second term policy bill is expected tonight, and at least two Republicans have indicated they will oppose the bill, so let’s start with the president’s statement on Medicaid. How does that compare to what is actually in this bill? What he said last week is very clearly wrong. For example, there is $1.7 trillion in this bill and you will not feel any of it. And your Medicaid is left alone. It is left the same as your Medicare and your Social Security are strengthened. We are not cutting. Of course, defend this law because the Republicans are objectively doing it, not leaving Medicaid the same. It is the objective fact that this law is making major changes to Medicaid and actually making major cuts. So one of the things that’s gotten a lot of discussion is the worker requirement, especially a requirement that many recipients who don’t have young children consider to be working, in school or employed. People enrolled in Medicaid will pay out of pocket for certain health care. There will be significant changes to the so-called provider tax that could force rural hospitals to close or require significant cuts in care. It puts additional administrative burdens on people and states.  It’s a big deal. And how well the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has been doing with federal support for Medicaid for 10 years. This is the largest Medicaid cut in history, which we’re talking about 11.8 million additional Social Security benefits, as if this law would fulfill its main campaign promise of completely eliminating the tax on Social Security. It wouldn’t just eliminate the tax on Social Security, many older people would still be paying it. What the law does now is provide additional tax deductions for seniors. In the House version it would be a $4,000 base deduction and in the Senate version it would be a $6,000 additional deduction. This is certainly something that is a step towards the president’s campaign promise, but no, it does not fully fulfill the promise of no tax on Social Security. Do you know what the president said about the new tax on tips during the campaign? No tax on overtime The president has said that passing this bill could also lead to historic tax increases for some people It’s a huge tax cut If it’s not passed, your taxes will increase by 68%, think 68 is the highest in history. Democrats will not pass it because it’s so good for Republicans politically. This 68% number is imaginary and it’s so imaginary that the White House would not even support it on the condition of anonymity when I asked for a comment for a defense. There is no credible estimate that this legislation would create a 68% tax rate if it were not passed. The nonpartisan think tank Center for Tax Policy said that if the bill doesn’t pass, it will raise taxes by about 7.5% on average, and they also said that about 64% of households will be exempt from the tax. Our excellent fact checker Daniel Dale. Congress is on the clock right now. Senators have begun debating President Trump’s spending and tax cut bill. The cornerstone of his second amendment and it’s all part of the deal, which is expected to pass later today and two Republicans are expected to vote on it. No, the president will rely on his slim majority. Where is the situation now? With 90 minutes left to introduce President Trump’s agenda amendment, the bill is now on Capitol Hill. Democrats are expected to introduce several amendments that could be presented to Republicans on politically difficult issues, but there are also several Republican amendments expected to win over some Republicans who may be hesitant about the bill. One of those amendments will come from Senator Rick Scott of Florida. He has proposed reducing federal payments that were made under President Obama’s Medicaid expansion. There is also Senator Susan Collins, who is expected to introduce an amendment related to rural hospital funding. Many people will also be paying attention to Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.