The House of Representatives yesterday passed the first major tax reform bill since the Reagan era. The vote was 227-to-205.

No Democrats voted for the bill. Of the 13 Republicans who voted against it, 12 came from three high-tax blue states: California, New Jersey and New York. They were opposed to the elimination of the deduction for state income taxes and a cap on local property tax deductions.

I know that change will frustrate many taxpayers. But it is actually something conservatives, including Ronald Reagan, have fought for as part of overall tax reform that lowers individual tax rates.

It’s also one of the reasons it has taken more than 30 years to reform the tax code. It is far too complicated, and there is an army of entrenched lobbyists fighting for their special interests and loopholes. But Donald Trump and the House GOP majority got it done.

Click here for a detailed analysis of the tax reform plan passed by the House.

Now it’s up to the Senate.

Clinton Chutzpah

As we have reported recently, President Trump and several members of Congress are calling for a special counsel to investigate the Clinton Foundation and the shady dealings of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Attorney General Jeff Sessions hinted at the possibility earlier this week.

Wednesday, the far-left media outfit Mother Jones asked Hillary to comment on these reports. Incredibly, Clinton had the chutzpah to lecture us about the “rule of law” and the “politicizing” of government. Here’s what she said:

“I regret deeply that this appears to be the politicizing of the Justice Department and our justice system… But … this is such an abuse of power. It goes right at the rule of law.

"As secretary of state I went around the world bragging about America’s rule of law, that we are a nation of laws not of men, and that the justice system was blind… If they send a signal that we’re going to be like some dictatorship, like some authoritarian regime, where political opponents are going to be unfairly, fraudulently investigated, that rips at the fabric of the contract we have, that we can trust our justice system.”

I could spend days writing about the many ways Bill and Hillary abused their power, violated the rule of law and politicized everything. These people have no shame.

She served in an administration that singled out conservative groups for special harassment from the IRS.

She ordered her staff to evade rules regarding the handling of classified information.

She and the president she served negotiated a treaty with Iran but refused to call it a treaty in order to evade Congress and the Constitution.

And she lied about Benghazi.

There is not enough space here to list all the potential violations of the rule of law by the Clintons, but here’s one more: What part of the rule of law says the Justice Department can spy on the political campaign of the administration’s opponents during the height of a heated presidential election?

Good News

East Coweta High School, south of Atlanta, Georgia, is the scene of the latest skirmish in America’s culture war. The high school football team had a long tradition of praying before games. But in October, atheists from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wisconsin, sent a letter to the school district threatening a lawsuit if the prayers continued.

These radical atheists objected to the fact that Coach John Small also participated in the prayers.

Sadly, the school district buckled, fearing it could lose the case and would then be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses. It issued an order warning school employees that they “cannot participate in any student initiated/student led prayer or worship while acting in their official capacity.”

But the players continued praying. And Coach Small was defiant. “We are not allowed to be in the middle of it but we have a right to be there with our players,” Small said. “We don’t have to flee [the scene]. If my head is bowed, nobody can tell me what I am thinking.”

The players also organized their own “resistance.” At a recent game, they approached the stands and the entire audience prayed with them.

“Our [players] took it upon themselves to organize a prayer with our students in the stands before the game,” Coach Small said. “Instead of it being 100 players praying, it turned into 400 students praying.”

Kudos to the East Coweta High School football team.

I hope everyone reading this report will fight back, just as these students did. We ought to “resist” whenever the Left attempts to force its values on the rest of us.

“Thank You, President Trump”

While other athletes are taking a knee and disrespecting our national anthem and the police and attacking Trump every chance they get, three UCLA basketball players are thanking the president and our country.

LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill briefly experienced what the world is like when you’re not in America. Last week, they were arrested in China for shoplifting one day before President Trump arrived in the country.

Wednesday, they sounded like grateful citizens when they thanked the United States government and President Trump for keeping them out of a Chinese jail.

Yesterday, President Trump tweeted:

“To the three UCLA basketball players I say: You’re welcome, … and, HAVE A GREAT LIFE! Be careful, there are many pitfalls on the long and winding road of life!”