The tax code isn’t a real emergency

WASHINGTON: There are emergencies, and there are “emergencies.”

The tax bill, which Republicans are desperate to jam through before even they themselves have time to read it, is the latter.

There is zero urgency in passing this terrible, glitchy, sloppily drafted piece of legislation. Even if you actually like what the bill does, it’s hard to argue that its major provisions would be well-timed.

The economy doesn’t need $ 1.5 trillion in unfunded stimulus right now. We’re nearly nine years into an economic expansion ( making this one of the longest expansions on record), unemployment is at 4.1 percent ( its lowest level in 17 years), and debt as a percent of GDP is near record highs.

If you’re a Keynesian -- and per Milton Friedman, we’re all Keynesians now -- these measures suggest it is precisely the wrong moment to pump money into the economy.

As outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Janet L. Yellen explained week, passing a major deficit - act in a future downturn.

In other words, there might be no powder left in the keg when we actually need it.

Moreover, this is a bill weighted toward corporations, ostensibly because corporations need money to expand, hire and invest.

Yet companies are already sitting on huge stockpiles of cash that they don’t know what to do with. Borrowing costs are low, equity and medium- size firms report having little trouble getting loans. As a result, big corporations have announced plans to use the wind dividends, rather than productive economic activity.

So what an actual life- ordeath policy emergency, one with real deadlines?

Reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or

Nine million children depend on CHIP, which provides insurance to minors whose families are not quite poor enough for Medicaid but who still can’t afford private insurance.

The 20-year-old program has historically received bipartisan support. But its federal funding lapsed in September and has yet to be renewed by Congress, which has been too preoccupied with cutting taxes for billionaires.

Lawmakers’ inaction has left millions of children, including some in the middle of lifesaving care such as cancer treatment, in limbo. As Congress squabbles and delays, states have temporarily extended this critical program using reserve funds or money from other sources, but dollars are rapidly running out.

A third of states are expected to exhaust their funding by Jan. 31, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. By March 31, threequarters of states will have to shutter their programs.

Yet another actual policy emergency involves the fate of “dreamers.”

These are the nearly 700,000 young, undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States as children. In September, the Trump administration announced that it would rescind the Obama-era program that allows them to stay, work and contribute to the economy. Congress has until March to pass a law shielding them from deportation and preventing them from slipping back into the shadows.

Once again, the vast majority of Americans -- including three- quarters of Republicans -- support extending protected status for these young people. But once again, Congress has left this prerogative on the back burner, prioritizing tax cuts instead.

Other pressing priorities might include the $94 billion aid package requested by Puerto Rico,