Why We Ask: Our mission and operations are funded 100% by conservatives like you. Please help us continue to extend Liberty to the next generation and support the 2024 Year-End Campaign today.

November 15, 2017

Tax Reform Chess Moves in the Senate

The GOP floats the idea of ending ObamaCare’s mandate in order to comply with Senate rules.

Senate Republicans are working to get their version of a tax reform bill to the full Senate floor this week with the goal of holding a vote after Thanksgiving. Among the more interesting and appealing elements is that Republicans are now floating the idea of repealing the “Affordable” Care Act mandate as part of tax reform (the Supreme Court, after all, ruled that it’s a tax). The Congressional Budget Office estimates repealing the mandate would save the government upwards of $318 billion over the next decade, freeing up that money to offset the estimated revenue lost to tax cuts. That then allows the Senate to comply with its budgetary rules and avoid having the tax bill increase the deficit over the $1.5 trillion threshold, which would have required 60 votes to pass rather than a simple majority. In other words, repealing the ACA mandate would allow Republicans to pass tax reform without needing any Democrat votes. But once again the challenge for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is to get at least 50 Republicans on board, something he failed to do with the GOP’s attempt to repeal and replace ObamaCare by itself, let alone with tax cuts.

When the focus was health care and the number of individuals insured, several Senate Republicans balked at the idea of ending the ACA mandate. Now that the focus is tax reform and aiming to save Americans money, suddenly talk of ending the mandate in order to pass tax reform has become more palatable. Was this the plan for Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) the whole time?

Out-of-control spending is why the debt keeps growing. While ending the ObamaCare mandate is a welcome idea that does indeed cut spending on insurance subsidies, it’s essentially being used by Republicans to avoid serious spending cuts elsewhere. And repealing the mandate as a tax does not repeal the ACA’s other regulations, which several have argued could actually lead to even higher health care premiums, eventually creating fertile ground for a de facto single-payer system. Would Republicans and Donald Trump then give in to pressure to bail out insurance companies lest they fail and potentially leave millions of Americans uninsured? Think 2008 and the bank bailout.

Yes, Americans want tax cuts, but they also demand that Republicans enact fiscally responsible change that seriously cuts government spending. By ending the ACA mandate, Republicans would almost have to take up another attempt at fuller repeal. With the recent election losses, Republicans may now be feeling the heat and know they need to come through on their promise to end Barack Obama’s onerous law.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.