Donald Trump was elected one year ago on a platform of repealing and replacing Obamacare, and a massive tax cut for business and individuals.  The Republicans in Congress told us the repeal of Obamacare must come before the tax cut.  Then, they failed in three attempts to make any change in Obamacare.  No problem, they said, we’ll move on to tax reform.  The President had promised us a big tax cut.  We waited patiently for the House “framework” for tax reform to be announced.  The idea was to make a big cut in the corporate tax rate, which at 35%, is one of the highest in the world.  That’s a good idea.  All politicians, up to an including Barack Obama no less, and there is no less, have been claiming for years that they favor a cut in the corporate rate.  They said it, but no action ever was taken.  Donald Trump also promised a tax cut for the middle class, so that we would be able to keep more of the money we earn.  (That’s generous of them, isn’t it?)  Recently, the House released its tax reform framework, called “the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.”  The release was accompanied by Trump tweets touting the reform as “the biggest tax cut in the history of our country.”  In fact, Trump wanted to call the proposal the Cut Cut Cut Act.  The President promised us “a big beautiful Christmas present in the form of a tremendous tax cut.”  As they say, however, the devil is in the details, and the details in the House tax reform framework are designed to cut, cut, cut the throats of millions of taxpayers such as myself.  In a sane and rational world, you might expect that, if a majority of the House and Senate want to cut tax rates, then they would simply reduce the current rates to lower rates.  So, the 25% rate would be cut to 23%, or whatever, right?  Wrong.  Washington is neither sane nor rational.  The problem is that, although Republicans allegedly control both houses of Congress and the presidency, the notorious Senate filibuster rule once again is preventing any simple and rational changes.  See, as with any issue coming before the Congress, the Democrats, who supposedly are part of the legislature, have decided not to participate in tax reform.  No Democrat will vote for a tax cut of any kind.  As a result, in order to get any bill out of a Senate which allegedly is controlled by Republicans, the bill must satisfy the rules of reconciliation.  In a nutshell, reconciliation is a means of circumventing the filibuster on a revenue bill, permitting the bill to be passed by a simple majority of the Senate, or 51 votes. (It’s shocking that the majority might actually rule in America, isn’t it?)  But reconciliation comes with strings attached.  In order to be passed, the bill must satisfy the Byrd Rule, which requires an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office to the effect that the proposed bill will not add to the federal deficit over a ten year period.  Never mind the facts that Robert Byrd is dead, that when he was alive he was a KKK member, that nobody cared about the Obama deficits, and that the CBO has never accurately predicted anything ten years in advance, it doesn’t matter, those are the rules.  What this means is that, in order to cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%, again, a good idea, they had to balance the immediate effect of the corporate cuts with tax increases on the individual side.  In other words, they had to rob Peter to pay Paul, and as it turns out, I’m Peter.  The proposal cuts seven tax rates to three, or four, depending on who you believe.  I’m in the 25% bracket now, and after the biggest tax cut in American history (which it’s not) my tax rate will be .. 25%.  Be still my heart.  Okay, but the 25% tax rate won’t cut in till $90,000 in income, and the rate below it is 12%, so that’s good, but remember, it’s the details that count.  They say they are doubling the standard deduction.  That’s a lie.  While the standard deduction for a couple goes from $13,000 to $24,000, they eliminate the $8,100 in personal exemptions, they eliminate the deduction for state taxes, and they limit the deduction for property taxes.  The net result of all this for me is a loss of more than $11,000 in itemized deductions and the personal exemptions, which will raise my taxable income by nearly $20,000.  Simply put, the biggest tax cut in American history will increase my tax bill by $4,946, that’s a 17% tax increase.  Why am I being punished?  My only crime is that I was born in New Jersey, and foolishly decided to live and work here.  Think I’m one of those 1% filthy rich bastards who’s been undertaxed?  Think again.  In any case, although I’m not a fan of class warfare, the fact is that a couple with $1 million of taxable income actually does get a tax cut of $23,000, by means of a rate reduction to 35%.  I, on the other hand, am that middle class guy that every lying, cheating, thieving politician keeps swearing they’re trying to help.  Needless to say, an additional 5 grand out of my pocket, on top of the $60,000 I already pay in taxes will not help me.  A big selling point, for some reason, is the claim that you will be able to do your taxes on a postcard.  As long as there’s room on the postcard for a suicide note, that might work.  So, here’s a message to all Republicans in Congress – REPUBLICAN ESTABLISHMENT, HEAR THIS!  YOU HAVE SCREWED UP EVERY OTHER TRUMP PROPOSAL YOU HAVE TOUCHED.  YOU HAVE FAILED TO PASS ANYTHING THE PRESIDENT SUPPORTS, SO PLEASE, PLEASE, FAIL AGAIN.  IF YOU WON’T HELP ME, AT LEAST DON’T HURT ME.  Donald Trump is supposed to be a populist, so I’m channeling another populist from long ago, William Jennings Bryan.  To paraphrase “the Great Commoner,” Congress must defeat this tax proposal. You shall not press down upon the brow of the middle class this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify the middle class upon a cross of reconciliation.