Despite their "ideological confusion and fractiousness," Republicans managed to pass a "good" tax reform bill this week — but the sweeping legislation could still spell big trouble for the GOP, the Weekly Standard says in an editorial published Thursday.
"We didn't think congressional Republicans could pass a major tax bill without creating something worse than the status quo. The party's ideological confusion and fractiousness, its thin majority in the Senate, the president's penchant for distracting tweets: We assumed the worst," the editors of the noted conservative opinion website write.
"And yet the tax bill passed by Congress, despite all the apocalyptic and dishonest rhetoric from the Democrats and their allies in the media—and indeed some unsavory provisions in the legislation itself—is a good one.
"It's moderately unpopular according to some national polls, and Democrats can be counted on to spend 2018 accusing Republicans of helping the rich on the backs on the poor. But the bill's reforms can be easily defended by any free-market conservative."
Still, the Weekly Standard says, "Democrats are certain to make the tax bill a major issue of the 2018 midterms . . . That could mean tough times are ahead for the GOP — but only if they decide not to defend a worthy accomplishment on grounds of fairness and sound economic principle."
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