As the Trumpocalypse lumbers forward, its latest atrocity, the Republican/Trump tax scam is attracting lots of horrified commentary. Find below a few highlights from some of the more interesting takes on the issue:

Economist and New York Times opinion writer, Paul Krugman, takes his literary cue from the season:

It’s that time of year again. Some of us will get nice gifts, while others will get lumps of coal.

But the rules have changed a bit this time, at least as far as the federal government is concerned. The St. Nick you knew is on vacation, possibly permanently. In his place we have Republican Tax-Cut Santa, who has different priorities.

You see, the new guy doesn’t care whether you’re naughty or nice. In fact, he’ll actually reward you if you’re naughty in the right ways. But mainly he cares whether you’re rich, especially if your wealth comes from property (preferably inherited property), not hard work. In that case, you get a really big gift. If you’re an ordinary working family, not so much — and eventually you get that lump.

David Rothkopf in The Daily Beast makes the case that: “Donald Trump Just Pulled off the Greatest Long Con in History.” He outlines his case in the first paragraphs:

Bernie Madoff must be sitting in prison thinking to himself, “Schmuck, that’s how it is done!”

That’s because the con just pulled off by Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and very nearly every Republican on Capitol Hill would have every great fraudster in American history from Ponzi to that tubby guy behind the Backstreet Boys marveling at its scope, boldness, and brazen criminality.

But before we give these scoundrels too much credit, we need to recognize just how much of their con was, as they say in show biz, “sampled” from other scammers. These have included everything from the bait-and-switch (promise a “middle-class tax cut” on the campaign trail and deliver one for the rich and powerful) to the long con (play on the weaknesses of the sucker, take him through the twists and turns of meaningless distractions that go nowhere, then grab his cash). Another Madoff favorite that was regularly used was “cooking the books.” Estimates of benefits to the middle class were overstated, while the impact on the deficit was understated dramatically.

Sam Ross-Bown writes in The American Prospect about one of the several nasty little surprises hidden in the poorly-vetted, rushed legislation – in this case a provision that endangers our drinking water:

In the landmark tax reform overhaul, congressional Republicans axed a critical financing tool that cities and towns have used to upgrade aging drinking water infrastructure: advance refunding bonds. These bonds allowed municipalities to refinance outstanding debt at lower interest rates. The loss of this tool—combined with historically low levels of federal enforcement and support for basic drinking water standards—could deepen the nation’s ongoing lead contamination crisis by making it harder for local governments to fund much-needed infrastructure improvements that would curb lead contaminants in drinking water.

At Mother Jones, Edwin Rios lists some middle-class friendly alternative ways to spend the $1.5 trillion dollars that Trump’s tax bill gave to the wealthy and corporations: Free college; erase student debt, universal public preschool, comprehensive infrastructure repair, universal housing vouchers for eligible families making less than 30 percent of an area’s median income; CHIP funding for 107 years; global warming initiatives and disaster relief; new space stations. Read the details and weep for what could have been.

WaPos Paul Waldman analyzed the reality behind the announcement that five corporations were raising wages and/or handing out bonuses because of the tax cut. What he concluded is that there less there than meets the eye:

… Not only does it feel as though companies are attempting to curry favor with Trump as if he ere a Third World potentate, at least one of these companies – I’m lookig at you, AT&T – is embroiled in a contentious legal dispute with the U.S. government.

What’s more, these steps, while welcome, are hardly going to counter the vast benefits the wealthy will receive from this bill, much of which will come at the expense of the those less well-off. They also don’t address whether workers more broadly will actually receive a sizable jump in wages, or a sizable share of the benefits of the massive economic growth — if indeed that even happens — that Republicans claim these tax cuts will engender.

Beyond all this, while a bonus is a nice gesture — and a raise is, of course, a good thing — there was certainly nothing from stopping any company from taking such actions sooner. Overall, corporate balance sheets are flush, and stock prices are at record highs — and have been for some time. As Ben White noted at Politico, “These announcements are nice and good on all the companies for doling out some extra cash. But they are relatively small chunks of the vast piles of cash sitting around corporate balance sheets.”

Many commentators wrote about the politics of the bill. An example of the latter is John Judis’ argument in TPM (“The Politics of the Republican Tax Bill: A dissenting View”) that the GOP will have managed to insulate itself from negative fallout generated by the massive transfer of wealth upwards that this bill represents because of the small, temporary cuts that some in the middle class will receive.

TPM Editor Josh Marshall posted a careful response to Judis, concluding that:

The tax cut bill is unpopular first because its authors are very unpopular. It is also unpopular because of the disorderly and chaotic process in which it was constructed in which it was quite clear that the overriding goal was tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. A lot of the maneuvering was to find ways not to raise taxes too much on ordinary people so that it became impossible to pass. The overriding goal, however, was clear. So it is both the popular mood, the unpopularity of the President and the substance of the bill itself that is driving its low numbers. Recent evidence suggests that the relatively marginal short term benefits to middle income earners are not ones that will change anyone’s opinions. They’ll mainly confirm opinions of people already committed to supporting the President….

The Political Animal’s Martin Longman responds to Judis by arguing that Democrats should be optimistic that Americans won’t be misdirected by GOP tax cut smoke and mirrors:

Given that Donald Trump was just elected president, taking the cynical view of the American electorate might seem like an appropriate default position, but I don’t think it’s fair or supportable to say that Americans’ simply don’t care about wealth inequality. I think a lot of people care about it, and I believe it can be politically activated with or without demagoguery. During the Great Recession, Americans were being taxed at an historically low rate, but it proved easy to mobilize an impassioned political reaction based on the idea that we’re “Taxed Enough Already.” Complaints about fair treatment can still gain traction, and it’s even easier when the underlying grievance happens to be true. Hammering the Republicans for favoring the wealthy and corporations is always at least somewhat effective, but I think it will be especially effective in this cycle.

There’s lots more information and discussion out there. No reason for anyone to be bamboozled by statements like this (from MO Rep. Ann Wagner’s (R-2) email newsletter):

When you sent me to Congress in 2012, I promised Missourians that I would find a way for families to keep more of their hard-earned money. Yesterday, the House and Senate delivered on that promise. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act cuts taxes for middle income Missourians, allows American businesses to flourish, and paves the way for an increase of good-paying jobs. In fact, employees across Missouri and the country are already starting to see the benefits of the tax reform only hours after its passage, just in time for Christmas!

Sheesh!

So Trump – with the full support of the GOP – has managed one of the biggest transfers of wealth upwards in the history of the U.S. Josh Marshall, properly dumbfounded, provides the transcript of Vice-Pence’s celebratory apotheosis of President Moron at what has been described as an unbelievably creepy cabinet meeting today. Here’s an astounding fragment:

But mostly, Mr. President, I’ll end where I began and just tell you, I want to thank you, Mr. President. I want to thank you for speaking on behalf of and fighting every day for the forgotten men and women of America. Because of your determination, because of your leadership, the forgotten men and women of America are forgotten no more. And we are making America great again.

Forgotten men and women? Billionaires, maybe? Because if they’re talking about working people and this regressive tax travesty is way they’re remembered, forget about being forgotten, they should go into hiding:

But, friends, we’re going to hear lots of this kind of talk in the coming months. Republicans have such contempt for voters that they’re sure a big publicity blitz will suffice to undo any damage come elections in 2018 – especially if it’s mostly paid for by the big “donors” who pushed this dismal piece of legislation. The Washington Post describes the GOP strategy:

Brad Todd, a Republican ad-maker who will be involved in some of next year’s marquee contests, said outside groups need to spend real money to sell the bill as soon as possible. “In order for the benefit to not come too late in the election cycle, it’s pretty important for conservative and Republican groups to make the sale now…

Yeah. Before the elections, sure, and before folks figure out that we’re all Kansas now (and that’s not a good thing, economy-wise). With a fail like this bill, there’ll be lots of dots to connect – and the GOP is betting voters will be too dumb to make the connections – at least before they cement power for another two years.

A note to my fellow Missourians: notice which Missouri Senator, part of the GOP leadership group that rushed the tax scam through, is showing up in photos and videos of the victorious Republican leadership after passage of the tax sham. Hint: He’s grinning like a monkey who’s just showered the room with big handfuls of fecal matter. Oh wait, he has.

Here, via The Turner Report, is GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s statement on the tax sham being muscled through Congress right now:

The release of this final tax reform bill brings hard-working Missouri families one step closer to relief. I look forward to voting on the tax package next week and getting it to President Trump’s desk before Christmas, so that Americans will see their paychecks increase and more jobs come back from overseas.

I want you to read this carefully in order to appreciate how remarkable it is. Remarkable, I mean, in terms the number of lies that can be packed into a relatively short statement:

The Tax bill will bring relief to “hard-working” Missouri families: I suppose this is true insofar as it’s possible that some billionaires are hardworking. And these guys are going to have so much relief that they will, to paraphrase Trump, who will also make out like the proverbial bandit, get sick of being relieved. Others, we are told by tax experts who have reviewed the document, may or may not pay less and, of course, even these much smaller poor folks “cuts” will expire within 5-10 years. Many working and middle class families and some small businesses will pay more in taxes right away since crucial deductions have been “simplified” out of existence in order to pay for huge, permanent cuts for corporations – which will, incidentally, keep almost all of the loopholes that the elimination of which have in the past provided a rationale for lowering the corporate tax rate.

Americans will see their paychecks increase: Most economists agree with those who assert that if it hasn’t already happened, increasing the corporate bottom line via a huge tax cut isn’t going to make it happen. As The Washington Post notes, “wage growth has remained relatively sluggish over the past several years, even as corporate profits hover near all-time highs as a share of the economy, and the unemployment rate continues to fall to levels that economists normally associate with rapid increases in worker pay.” Expect the corporate tax windfalls to go straight into corporate stock buybacks and to wealthy stockholders.

Americans will see … more jobs come back from overseas. The tax scam bill would allow companies to repatriate profits on a one-time basis at a 15% rate, a strategy that has failed to stop offshoring in the past. Tax lawyer David Herzog reminds us in a New York Times op-ed that, “by instituting a tax holiday in 2004, the government signaled to companies that future untaxed profits could eventually be repatriated when the budget was in trouble.” That’s why corporations are now sitting on $2.5 billion dollars they’ve squirreled away in foreign countries, waiting on the next tax holiday – and, voila, here it is.Thank you Daddy Trump.

Nor, as an AP Fact check observes, does past experience indicate that repatriated profits have much of a positive effect on the economy, but rather go into shareholders pockets or to finance stock buybacks. Tax experts, as opposed to Rep. Hartzler who clearly is not, are nearly uniform in the considered opinion that “the legislation fails to eliminate long-standing incentives for companies to move overseas and, in some cases, may even increase them.”

Nevertheless, we can expect this disastrous, deficit busting bill to pass with unanimous Republican support today. Its passage will happen even though a majority of Americans, even those who will get a tax cut, have made it clear in polls that they know it stinks. If you are interested in why Republicans don’t care about their constituents needs and preferences, Steve Benen has done an excellent job of outlining the possible reasons for GOP disregard of public opinion in this case.

I personally think that Rep. Hartzler’s mendacity in trying to pass off a mess of spoiled pottage as caviar and champagne can give us a clue to at least one aspect of the GOP strategy. I expect that we’ll hear many variants of Hatzler’s fantastic stories tripping off the lips of our imaginative Republican congresspeople in the coming weeks.They’re so sure that the voters they need have been Foxized to the point that they can be told up is down and they’ll not only believe it, but will start walking on their hands. Republicans think we’re dumb, manipulable bozos who can be led by our noses straight off a cliff.

And maybe they’re right to be contemptuous of their voters. Just look at who is sitting in the White House.