I don't follow US politics religiously, but it was reported over here that the tax bill had been voted through in both houses (senate 51-49) and now awaits one Sharpie signature in a different building. How is that affected by the special election in ten days? Can the new senator cast another vote? Seems doubtful to me.
Too bad outcome. Not entirely unexpected. Will this precipitate the Next Yuge Crash, like previous tax "cuts"? How soon? (Asking for all my relatives) ):
Lucky you about not following our politics religiously. Too many of our citizens confuse religion with politics.
A tax bill is now passed by both houses of Congress, but they have some key differences. I'm sure you already know the next steps. Normally these would necessitate a Conference Committee be formed which would iron out differences in each House's version. Then it goes back to each house with no amendments for final approval before sending to the President for signature. However, in this most irregular case there is some talk of the House of Representatives approving the Senate version as is. I don't know if that has ever happened in the past as I'm not an "Americanist" by training. (Only one graduate seminar in American politics at Harvard but have taught the introductory course some seventy times, and not just the first year over and over again as with some colleagues.)
There is some talk of die hard budget hawks in the normally united Republican bloc screwing the pooch, so to speak, but that argues for Ryan, the Speaker, to call for a quick vote on the Senate version. It's almost as though the Republicans are in a race to get the payoff to billionaires done quickly before the Mueller investigation drops any more bombshells. Currently, Luther Strange is the interim Senator from Alabama replacing Jeff Sessions. That may also explain why the Reeps are in such a hurry. I don't know when the new Senator who might be a Democrat would be seated after December 12th. If Roy Moore wins, which is likely although close it would take some time to get rid of him which the leadership and others have promised, but I wouldn't count on it. Again, religion and politics.
Both Neroden and I along with perhaps others have recently addressed on the macro thread the issue of impact on the economy and stock market. I think you've got it right. Once the impact of the service cuts to citizens becomes known (realized) the plan makes no sense for the economy and then the market. But then when does the market make sense, or Republican robot-like attack on taxes for the wealthy? Can you imagine a modern economy borrowing to the hilt while making the tax burden more regressive and raiding social services in order to finance a transfer of wealth to the top ten percent which increases even more at the 1 percent level?
My wife, native to Thailand, remarked watching the news today that China is now the dominant country and "America First" is ensuring it. (Sometimes she gets unimportant things wrong, usually because of language. For the longest time she couldn't understand why Trump had hired a lawyer from her country, Ty Cobb.)
