[W]ASHINGTON — Top House and Senate Republicans reached a deal on a final tax package Wednesday afternoon as GOP congressional leaders rush to finish the legislation before the end of the year.
The news came hours before the first meeting of the conference committee that is formally responsible for reconciling the House and Senate versions of the bill.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a member of that committee, referenced the news reports of a final deal in his remarks.
“As I think you well know and everybody at this table understands, this conference, so-called conference committee is a farce,” Sanders said to the committee chair.
According to news reports, the final package will lower the top corporate income tax rate to 21 percent, rather than the 20 percent that was in both the Senate and House bills. It also lowers the top income tax rate for individuals.
Sanders, the highest-ranking representative for the minority party on the Senate Budget Committee, criticized the process of drafting the legislation and the lack of public hearings on the bill.
“This is legislation written for wealthy campaign contributors, and I want to congratulate some of my Republican colleagues for being honest about that,” he said.
Sanders referred to polls that show low public approval ratings for the bill. He argued the legislation will increase economic inequality in the country.
“In America today, the very wealthy are becoming much more wealthy while the middle class continues to shrink, and your solution is to give 62 percent of the benefits to the top 1 percent,” Sanders said.
He also said the bill will increase the federal deficit, leading to more pressure to cut services like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
“What kind of decency is there when we have legislation that gives massive tax breaks to billionaires and then comes back and wants to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?” Sanders said. “This bill must not be passed.”
Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., also a member of the conference committee, argued in favor of the bill. He said he sees the differences between Democrats and Republicans on the legislation as representing “two entirely different world views.”
He characterized the view of supporters of the bill as “the economics of invitation and opportunity” and those in opposition as the “cul-de-sac of envy.”
“Look, the American public has been told in the previous administration, you’re stuck in your station in life, and the only way you can get out of your station in life is if some federal program comes over the hill and … pulls you out,” Roskam said.
The legislation must pass the conference committee, then be approved by both the full House and Senate before going to the president’s desk. Floor votes on the bill are expected next week.
