Republicans Have No Shame or Credibility

Republicans Are Grifters of the First Order

2025 Republican Legislative Enrichment Program

In 2025 the Republican‑controlled House passed a sweeping tax and spending package that analysts say primarily benefits wealthy lawmakers and their donors while shifting the burden onto middle‑class taxpayers.

Key provisions and primary beneficiaries

• The bill makes permanent the lower individual‑income‑tax rates and the doubled standard deduction enacted by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
• It expands the 20 % pass‑through deduction for business owners to 23 % and relaxes deduction limits for high‑income earners. These changes are projected to cost roughly $820 billion over the 2025‑2034 period, with the bulk of the savings flowing to high‑earning individuals and corporations that dominate the pass‑through sector.
• The State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap is raised from $10,000 to $40,000 for 2025, benefiting taxpayers in high‑cost states who tend to have higher incomes, while middle‑class families in lower‑income regions receive little relief.

Impact on middle‑class taxpayers

• The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) estimates that, when the 2017 tax law extensions are combined with cuts to Medicaid and SNAP and new tariffs, households in the bottom 60 % of the income distribution lose an average of $1,870 per year—roughly four months of groceries.
• The Congressional Budget Office projects that the $4.5 trillion of tax cuts authorized for 2025‑2034 exceed the revenue shortfall created by the legislation, leaving “room” for additional cuts that favor affluent taxpayers.

Political incentives

• The expanded pass‑through deduction directly reduces tax liabilities for owners of privately held businesses—a group that includes many members of Congress and their families.
• The higher SALT cap benefits constituents in traditionally Republican states, reinforcing electoral support while providing marginal or negative net gains for middle‑class voters in swing districts.

Criticism and counter‑arguments

• Proponents claim the legislation spurs economic growth by encouraging investment and simplifying the tax code.
• Independent tax scholars, however, note that the distributional effects are heavily skewed toward the top 1 % of earners, while the middle 20 % receive only about 13 % of the total tax cut despite paying 10 % of all income taxes.

Conclusion
The 2025 Republican tax and spending bill exemplifies a pattern of self‑servicing legislation: it delivers sizable financial advantages to wealthy legislators and their donors while imposing higher relative costs on middle‑class taxpayers through reduced social‑program funding, new tariffs, and tax provisions that favor high‑income earners. Multiple policy analyses suggest the legislation deepens economic inequality rather than broadening prosperity.

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Recent Continuing Resolution (CR) Controversy

The latest continuing resolution, passed with the assistance of eight Senate Democrats, inserted a provision allowing eight Republican senators to sue the government for $500,000 each over “secret” subpoenas issued by the Jan 6 investigation committee. The senators named are:

1. Lindsey Graham (R‑SC)
2. Josh Hawley (R‑MO)
3. Dan Sullivan (R‑AK)
4. Tommy Tuberville (R‑AL)
5. Ron Johnson (R‑WI)
6. Cynthia Lummis (R‑WY)
7. Marsha Blackburn (R‑TN)
8. Bill Hagerty (R‑TN)

If this were the sole instance of self‑dealing, it might be dismissed as “politics as usual.” However, a review of legislative actions since the 2016 election cycle shows a recurring pattern of riders that enrich the same group of lawmakers.