The Atlantic

The Tax Bill's Fate Won't Float (or Sink) the Republicans in 2018

Speaker Paul Ryan says Tuesday’s Democratic victories give his party extra incentive to forge forward on an overhaul. But why?
Source: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Surveying the damage of elections in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday, Paul Ryan had a clear prescription for ailing Republicans Wednesday morning: The results made it all the more important to pass the tax rewrite currently under consideration.

“I fundamentally believe when we deliver on comprehensive tax reform and tax relief, especially for middle income families, people will see their paychecks going up, they’ll see faster economic growth, better jobs being created,” he said at a Washington Examiner forum. “I think that’s going to bear fruit politically, but most importantly it’s going to help people. That’s the promise we made. If anything, this puts more pressure on making sure we follow through.”

Ryan is not the only Republican to make this case. Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, , “If we don’t produce, it'll get worse. The antidote to this problem is

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic3 min read
They Rode the Rails, Made Friends, and Fell Out of Love With America
The open road is the great American literary device. Whether the example is Jack Kerouac or Tracy Chapman, the national canon is full of travel tales that observe America’s idiosyncrasies and inequalities, its dark corners and lost wanderers, but ult
The Atlantic6 min read
There’s Just One Problem With Gun Buybacks
One warm North Carolina fall morning, a platoon of Durham County Sheriff’s Office employees was enjoying an exhibit of historical firearms in a church parking lot. They were on duty, tasked with running a gun buyback, an event at which citizens can t
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Return of the John Birch Society
Michael Smart chuckled as he thought back to their banishment. Truthfully he couldn’t say for sure what the problem had been, why it was that in 2012, the John Birch Society—the far-right organization historically steeped in conspiracism and oppositi

Related Books & Audiobooks