The tax cut fight is behind us, at least for the moment, but the long-term problems the GOP legislation is going to create haven't even begun yet.
The final version of the GOP's tax cut bill was released and passed too quickly for a great deal of official analysis to be completed before final passage and that's not a coincidence. Republicans did not want to wait around for another report that would tell us what we already know.
The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released a report after Trump signed their tax bill into law which says it won't pay for itself even after accounting for economic growth that may not materialize.
After accounting for macroeconomic effects, the bill would reduce federal revenue by $1.07 trillion over 10 years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).
While that's less than the $1.46 trillion price tag the JCT put on the bill before accounting for economic growth, the committee says the bill still isn't close to being deficit-neutral.
The JCT's report was released hours after Trump signed the tax package into law at the White House.
If this report among others had been released before they passed the final bill, I don't think it would have deterred them. It would have made them uncomfortable at best because the vast majority of the Republican party already knows their claims are bullshit. Knowing the truth would never stop them from voting for it because, for them, government is a means to an end and that end is loot.
Republicans in Congress didn't just vote to cut taxes for the rich and corporations, they also voted to cut their own taxes because they are the rich and corporations. Republican leaders bought their way to final passage by adding more hand-outs for businesses owned by their own members and virtually every member of Congress will qualify for the tax cuts for top earners, pass-through income, and/or corporations.
They also voted to cut taxes for their families by drastically increasing the threshold for estate taxes. Many members of Congress including those who voted for the bill are over 80 years old and I can only assume that influenced their votes given that so few Americans are actually effected by the estate tax. They just happen to be among those few.
The same could be said for Trump himself. He has repeatedly said we must cut estate taxes "for farmers," but it will benefit Ivanka, Eric, and Don Jr. far more than most.