Renee Parsons

It would seem inconceivable that the majority of Congress rarely appear to learn from past mistakes; or ever recognize the need to improve their performance as they continue to support war and all its budget-busting fiscal expenditures necessary to wage military conflict.  What is, however, undeniable is the recognition that the Republican party is in the throes of a full identity crisis with a Uniparty-America First split apparent.   

What continues to puzzle might be those controversial votes that offer an opportunity for a unified party to show some real leadership as Congress heavily debated the debt ceiling a year ago alerting the country to the massive deficits and a $30 trillion dollar debt that those bipartisan Electeds themselves endowed. 

The point is there is no end to the reckless spending followed by reckless votes with always a logical basis to cover the negligence as each supplemental, omnibus or continuing resolution is rationalized as if a lack of serious legislative equilibrium is the farthest thing from their minds.  

Let’s acknowledge that House Freedom Caucus members and friends who  lead the way to what may seem like confrontation since they have the foresight to prefer budget cuts in the face of a trillion dollar debt and deficits to match when the mainstream of their caucus prefer to sit out the skirmish. 

The  most current vote impacting fiscal folly was the House vote on the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, a creation of a deal between the unlikely duo of House Way and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith (Mo.) and Finance Committee Chair  Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.).  HR 7024 was adopted on a lopsided 357 – 70 with 47 Republicans and 23 Democrats voting No with a ‘refundable’ tax credit for children of illegal immigrants being the essential threshold vote.

While spirited debate was led by Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) to deny extension of the tax credit, there was no separate vote as an amendment with only one up-or-down ‘final passage’ vote deciding the question.  Congress employs a number of ‘techniques’ otherwise known as The Rule at its disposal to stage-manage the House Floor debate which must accompany each bill to assure an orderly progression of House floor procedure.   

At leadership’s initiative, HR 7024 was brought to the Floor with a controversial ‘suspended’ Rule which limited floor debate excluding floor amendments and required final passage with a two-thirds vote.  In others words, normally a full aggressive debate on any aspect of HR 7024 would have been severely limited but opponents made good use of their allotted time. 

Core of the debate focused on the dramatic increase of undocumented immigrants (300 K in December) during the Biden Administration as compared to when Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted in 2017 with the child tax credit increase  to $2,000 with $1,400 refundable.   Obviously as hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of undocumenteds have crossed the border since 2020, there are that many more illegals eligible to receive a Federal child tax credit hand out for no reason.     

While HR 7024 significantly increased the child tax payments, it was billed as a tax relief bill for every day Americans, ‘lifting its children from poverty” which was more of a thinly disguised ‘corporate tax windfall” although a ‘refundable tax credit’ is available for the children of illegal immigrants.   

It might seem a Houdini trick to provide a ‘refundable tax credit’ when there was no tax payments to begin, only Congress knows how to increase the debt as it worked its magic as Rep. Tom Massie (Ky.) described providing cash payments to those who did not earn a refund.  

2074 also locks in $600,000 in permanent tax breaks for wealthy Americans from Trump’s 2017 tax provisions as it will increase the Federal debt and increase inflation equates bad policy,

In a  display of bipartisan cooperation, Dems who historically underwrite welfare as established government policy, are not opposed to expansion of the welfare state, suggested that 7024 did not go far enough to provide stronger child tax credit benefit to American families.  Rep. Gwen Moore (Wisc) suggested there are 47%  of  American ‘takers and makers’ locked in tax cuts for wealthiest Americans who are the ‘makers’   Rep. Rosa deLauro (Conn.)  objected to the generous tax breaks to large corporation and minimal tax relief to American families.  

Rep. Bob Good (Va.) quoted Heritage Foundation position as ‘nearly 91% of family benefits from cash welfare to families who pay not federal tax and that with $306 billion new welfare cash payments, if extended over ten years would cost Federal government $140 billion with weakened work requirements.”

 Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fl) pulled no punches describing 7024 as a welfare bill masquerading as a tax bill with a ‘massive pull factor’ to attract millions of illegals vastly expanding ‘welfare in drag” with a massive increase as the wide open border allows more illegals to take advantage of the child tax credit as compared to Trump’s trickle at the border.  

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (Texas) added that under 7024 the Federal tax rate for corporate America is 7.8% while a working mom with two children will pay a 20% tax rate and that 7024 will provide $1 that goes to a child and $5 to corporations  reminded everyone of the broken bi partisan tax code with overflowing loopholes and special advantages for the well-connected per the 1913 Era of tax hustles.

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Next up will be an even more cantankerous Congress to exhibit how fiscal considerations screw with a mere $14.8  billion latest hand out to  Israel with no off sets meaning that the $34 trillion debt will increase $14.8 billion (plus accruing interest) – not counting an additional debt increase of $1 Trillion every 136 days. (Ask Massie)   Keep in mind that Israel has provided free health insurance and free academic education to all its citizens for decades while US is  continually drained of its ability to provide its own funding for health and education.  

And then expect a major knock down squabble on a vote for another $60 billion gift for Ukraine to continue a war that was hopelessly lost some months ago.   

As I was saying….some people never learn…

Renee Parsons served on the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and as president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, staff in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC.