Warner: 'Friday
Was My Single
Worst Day As a US
Senator'
Was My Single
Worst Day As a US
Senator'
Washington Free Beacon
5 hours ago
The Senate voted
on a tax bill few
have read
on a tax bill few
have read
Warner: Tax vote my single worst day as senator 01:16
Washington (CNN)Sen.
Mark Warner said his chamber's passage of the Republican tax reform
bill Saturday morning was his "single worst day as a US senator," adding
that the GOP's last-minute bill changes were "swamp 101."
"(A)s
somebody who wanted to be a part of tax reform, and realizes we need to
have a more competitive corporate rate, that realizes we need to bring
back some of those American profits, there are three things about this
process that just plain stunk," the Virginia Democrat said Sunday on
CNN's "State of the Union."
One of the "swamp 101" provisions was a special tax break for Hillsdale College, he said.
"Friday
night (when) the bill was being hand-drafted, lots of provisions were
being included for special interests. One got exposed already, exempting
a particular religious college in Michigan backed by the DeVos family
for special tax breaks," Warner said.
Warner was referring to language that was ultimately struck from the GOP tax bill that would have given a tax exemption
exclusively to the small college in Michigan, which has ties to the
Trump administration, including Education Secretary Betsy Devos, whose
brother, Blackwater security firm founder Eric Prince, was a graduate.
"I bet you we will see literally dozens more of these special provisions put in to help special interests," Warner continued.
Warner
added that he believes the bill "will add over $2 trillion to the debt"
and incentivize American companies to move business abroad.
Sen.
Tim Scott, R-South Carolina, pushed back on the nonpartisan Joint
Committee on Taxation's estimate that the bill would add $1 trillion to
the deficit, telling "State of the Union" anchor Jake Tapper that the
committee "consistently" underestimates economic activity.
"(O)ne
thing you can conclude of the last eight years is that our debt went
from $10 trillion to $20 trillion" Scott said. "Our economy stalled. If
we continue to spend more than we make ... and our debt continues to
explode, we do burden the next generation with more and more debt. One
of the fastest ways to fix that is economic growth. ... Our tax code
must be competitive with the rest of the world."
Scott
also justified the GOP's last-minute add-ons to the Senate tax bill
Friday evening, saying that they've been discussed in hearings and
meetings for years.
"That last hour
was not the accumulation of new information, it was the culmination of
three years. ... We certainly knew what was in the bill long far before
the last pages were printed," he said.
The
House and Senate will now head to a conference committee to reconcile
the differences between their respective versions of tax overhaul bill,
but Warner said he thinks "there still remains some chance" tax reform
will not pass.
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