The following article by Eric Levitz was posted on the New York Magazine website December 18, 2017:
Earlier this month, Bob Corker believed that the Republican tax bill was unconscionably reckless. The Tennessee senator had spent a decade decrying the “rapidly growing national debt” as the “greatest threat to our nation” — and months vowing to vote against any tax-cut legislation that added “one penny” to that sum. So, when he learned that the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” would add over $1 trillion to the deficit, Corker decided to take a lonely stand against it.
Two weeks later, Republican leaders in the House and Senate unveiled their final, consensus tax-cut legislation. The bill was nearly identical to the one Corker had voted against, except that it added even more money to the deficit — and included a special tax break for real-estate investors that would increase Bob Corker’s personal income by up to $1.2 million a year. Continue reading “The GOP Tax Bill Was Manifestly Corrupt Long Before the ‘Corker Kickback’”
Republicans have been dismissive of claims – including CBO projections – that the tax plan winding its way through Congress will increase the national debt by an estimated 1.5 trillion dollars. Other estimates put the 
Julie Kolbow has spent hours building spreadsheets to figure out how the tax overhaul under debate in Washington would affect her family of five in Chanhassen. She and her husband own small businesses and have two children in college, and she worries that the legislation could lower the amount of taxes they can deduct.