‘grim’ reception
Prez foes rip tax bill outside donor fete
PRESIDENT TRUMP wooed deep-pocketed donors in Manhattan Saturday — by railing against Democrats for not supporting the $1.5 trillion GOP tax plan passed by the Senate.
Trump regaled supporters at Cipriani 42nd Street with a story about the 3 a.m. phone call he received following the middle-ofthe-night passage of what he said was “the largest tax cut in the history of our country.”
Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the high-end eatery between Park and Lexington Aves., slamming Trump and Republicans over the measure.
The 500-page bill, approved by a 51-to-49 margin shortly before 2 a.m., must now be reconciled with a version passed by the House last month in a closed-door process before it is sent to Trump’s desk.
“Biggest Tax Bill and Tax Cuts in history just passed in the Senate,” the President tweeted Saturday, inaccurately framing the overhaul. The tax reform is significant, but far from the largest of its kind in American history.Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) was the sole lawmaker to break from his party, joining the Democrats in opposition to the bill.
“We got no Democrat help, and I think that’s going to cost them in the election because they voted against tax cuts,” Trump said. “I don’t think politically it’s good to vote against tax cuts.”
The Cipriani gala was the first of three such events the President attended during a whirlwind fivehour hometown trip.
Hundreds of protesters greeted the commander-in-chief with chants of “lock him up” as his motorcade crossed 42nd St.
One demonstrator dressed as the Grim Reaper held a scythe with the words “GOP Tax Scam” written across the plastic blade. Dozens of union members joined the protest against the tax bill.
“We’re here because the Senate and House Republicans are passing the tax scam bill,” said Theo Allen, 22, an engineering student from Westchester County. “We’re hoping to send a message to the President that Donald Trump is not welcome here.”
The measure’s tax reductions aid big businesses and the wealthy, according to critics and analysts, while providing modest breaks to others in what is the most extensive rewrite of the nation’s tax system since 1986.
Democrats were furious that their counterparts across the aisle rushed the bill through in an earlymorning marathon session that included last-minute amendments and revisions. The strategy didn’t allow lawmakers the chance to read the final version of the legislation before voting.
“With this plan, Republicans in Congress are robbing New Yorkers of billions of dollars, endangering the health care of millions of Americans, and exploding the federal deficit,” Gov. Cuomo said “The devastating impacts both intended, as well as unintended given the rushed, secretive approach taken in writing and voting on this plan, cannot be overstated.”
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted the bill is a “scam” that would result in “tens of millions of middle-class families” being “slapped with a tax hike.”
Republicans in the House and Senate are expected to work out the differences between the two bills in a conference committee.
The bills differ in several notable ways that could draw out the process as lawmakers seek common ground.
The House bill includes four individual tax brackets with a top rate of 39.6%, while the Senate bill has seven brackets with a top rate of 38.5%.The corporate rate cut takes effect in 2018 in the House bill and in 2019 in the Senate bill.
The measures also differ on child tax credits, the estate tax and international tax provisions.