Dem senator compares GOP tax bill to unicorns, Tupac conspiracy theories

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Friday compared the thinking behind Senate GOP’s tax bill to belief in unicorns and conspiracy theories that rapper Tupac Shakur is still alive.

Unicorns are real. Tupac is still alive. Borrowing money to pay for tax cuts for the rich shrinks the deficit. pic.twitter.com/UAJY01hi8z

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 1, 2017

In an analysis released Thursday, the Joint Committee on Taxation said the Senate GOP tax bill wouldn’t produce enough economic growth to fully pay for its tax cuts, despite Republican claims to the contrary.

The Joint Committee on Taxation said the bill would add about $1 trillion to the national debt after accounting for economic growth.

{mosads}Senate Republicans said Friday they had the votes necessary to pass their tax bill after key holdouts announced they would support the legislation.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said he would support the bill, giving Republicans the 50th vote needed to pass the plan, after securing an agreement to work on a legislative fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Flake also said his support came after a $85 billion “budget gimmick” was removed from the bill.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the lone holdout among the GOP caucus, announced his opposition to the bill Friday afternoon over concerns it would increase the deficit.

“This is yet another tough vote. I am disappointed. I wanted to get to ‘yes.’ But at the end of the day, I am not able to cast aside my fiscal concerns and vote for legislation that I believe, based on the information I currently have, could deepen the debt burden on future generations,” Corker said in a statement. 

Democrats have blasted Republicans for the bill’s impact on the deficit, saying the Joint Committee on Taxation’s analysis contradicts claims by the GOP and President Trump’s White House that the bill will pay for itself.

“This score that I’ve just gotten ends the fantasy about magical growth and claims that tax cuts pay for themselves,” Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, said Thursday.