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Republicans Pass Their Tax Plan: A Closer Look - YouTube
Channel: Late Night with Seth Meyers
[2]
-Republicans passed a sweeping
overhaul of the tax code
[3]
that will overwhelming benefit
corporations and the wealthy,
[6]
amounting to nothing left than
a brazen heist of the country.
[9]
For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look."
[12]
[ Cheers and applause ]
[16]
President Trump
keeps his insisting,
[18]
despite all evidence
to the contrary,
[20]
that this tax bill
will not be a boon
[22]
to the richest Americans.
[23]
In fact, in the spirit
of the holiday season,
[25]
he keeps calling it a Christmas
gift to the middle class.
[28]
-This is gonna be
one of the great gifts
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to the middle-income people
of this country
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that they've ever gotten
for Christmas.
[35]
It will be the greatest
Christmas present
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that a lot of people
have ever received.
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We're now one
huge step closer to delivering
[43]
to the American people
the historic tax relief
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as a giant present
for Christmas.
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Remember I said
we're bringing Christmas back?
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Christmas is back,
[55]
bigger and better
than ever before.
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We're bringing Christmas back.
[59]
-It almost sounds like
he was about to start singing.
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[ Laughter ]
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It's like he's doing
a Weird Al cover
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of a Justin Timberlake song.
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"I'm bringing Christmas back.
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Them other holidays
are super whack."
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[ Laughter ]
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Also,
Christmas didn't go anywhere.
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We're all up to our necks
in Christmas.
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Every TV show
has a Christmas episode.
[81]
Every commercial
has a Christmas song.
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There's a 70-foot tree
outside my office window,
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and every barista in town
is wearing antlers.
[89]
If you want to bring
something back, try Kwanzaa.
[92]
That thing
straight-up disappeared.
[94]
[ Laughter ]
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Of course, virtually every
reputable study of the tax bill
[98]
says the corporations
and the wealthy will benefit
[100]
far more than anyone else.
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For one thing, the corporate
tax cuts are permanent,
[103]
while the individual
tax cuts expire,
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which means that by 2027,
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more than 80% of the plan's
benefits go to the top 1%
[111]
while 53% of taxpayers
will see a tax hike.
[114]
And if you just
look at next year,
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the plan's benefits
are very heavily skewed
[117]
towards the wealthy.
[118]
Middle-income taxpayers
would pay about $900 less
[121]
where the highest-income
1% of households
[124]
would get an average tax cut
of roughly $50,000.
[127]
Here's what that means
in real terms.
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So, to recap,
if you're rich,
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you're getting
a car for Christmas,
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and if you're not, go ahead
and wrap up a can of gas.
[147]
[ Laughter and applause ]
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Of course, Republicans --
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Ooh.
[153]
[ Laughter ]
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I'm gonna set this
next to the fire
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and open it later.
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[ Laughter ]
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Of course, Republicans can't
point to any actual proof
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their plan would benefit lower-
and middle-income people,
[167]
so all they can do
is repeat vague talking points
[169]
about improving the economy.
[170]
For example, Ivanka Trump,
the President's daughter
[173]
and adviser,
tweeted this week...
[184]
Prompting a response
from her father, who wrote...
[188]
Man, that's got to suck
for Eric and Don Jr.
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They tweet about their dad
all the time...
[193]
[ Laughter ]
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...and all they ever get
is a broken upside-down heart.
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[ Laughter ]
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"What's the button
for hate them?"
[202]
[ Laughter ]
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And yet despite the overwhelming
evidence to the contrary,
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Trump has repeatedly claimed
not just that the wealthy,
[208]
in general,
would be hurt by the bill,
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but that he personally
would pay more in taxes
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than he did before.
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-We're also going to eliminate
tax breaks and complex loopholes
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taken advantage of
by the wealthy.
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Who are they?
I don't...
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[ Laughter ]
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I think my accountants
are going crazy right now.
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It's all right.
Hey, look, I'm President.
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I don't care.
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I don't care anymore.
I don't care.
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-We definitely believe
that you don't care.
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[ Laughter ]
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You're, by far,
our most checked-out President.
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[ Cheers and applause ]
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I mean, James Garfield
worked harder than you
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<i> after</i> he was assassinated.
[247]
[ Laughter ]
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You watch more TV than a
6th-grader at home with the flu.
[250]
Trump watches so much TV,
we're like a week away
[253]
from him tweeting
about "The Price is Right."
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[ Laughter ]
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[ Cheers and applause ]
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Now, obviously,
we can't know exactly
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how Trump would benefit
from this bill,
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since he still refuses
to release his tax returns.
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But we do know
there are lots of changes
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that would impact him directly.
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For one thing,
Republicans lowered
[276]
the top income-tax bracket.
[277]
There are also tax breaks
for so-called
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pass-through businesses, which
includes the Trump organization.
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There was even
a last-minute provision added
[284]
that specifically extends
a new tax break
[286]
for pass-through businesses
to real-estate investors.
[289]
In fact, the bill
has so many complicated
[290]
tax breaks and giveaways,
[292]
Republicans are trying to argue
that average Americans
[295]
would benefit
from those tax breaks
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by really stretching the meaning
of the word "average."
[299]
Take this tweet yesterday
from Texas Senator John Cornyn.
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Cornyn wrote...
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Yeah, you know,
that average American family
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that has two kids, a house,
a white picket fence,
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corporate income,
noncorporate business income,
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three limited-liability
corporations,
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two S corporations,
two C corporations,
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a commercial
real-estate venture,
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a limited-liability partnership,
carried interest,
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oh, and a dog.
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[ Laughter and applause ]
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Average.
You know, average.
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In fact, this bill doesn't even
deliver on the flimsy pretext
[347]
Republicans initially gave
for their tax plan --
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simplifying the tax code.
[350]
For example, the plan keeps
seven different tax brackets
[353]
rather than the three
Republicans initially proposed.
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Former GOP presidential
candidate Herman Cain
[357]
proposed his own tax-code
simplification plan,
[360]
called the 9-9-9 plan,
was asked about that failure
[363]
on Fox News
and didn't seem too troubled.
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-Your plan had 9-9-9.
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This one
still has seven brackets.
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It may not be
as simple as you wanted,
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but is it a big win
for Republicans?
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-It's not 9-9-9-,
but it's fine, fine, fine.
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-Look how happy Herman Cain is.
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He can't believe
they set him up for a rhyme.
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His public life is done.
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Now he'll just disappear,
never to be seen again.
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No, Herman, don't go!
What will we do without you?!
[390]
-Don't worry.
You'll be fine, fine, fine.
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[ Laughter ]
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-And on top of everything else,
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this bill also adds nearly
$1.5 trillion to the deficit
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after years of GOP hysteria
about government spending,
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and Republicans
are already being very open
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about the fact
that they're going to use
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the deficits they created
as an excuse to cut
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Social Security, Medicare,
and Medicaid
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under the guise
of so-called welfare reform.
[417]
Last week, House Speaker
Paul Ryan, a father of three,
[420]
was asked about
paying for those programs
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and said the problem wasn't that
Republicans are giving away
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billions to corporations
and the wealthy
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but that people
aren't having enough babies.
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-The great thing about
tax reform coming right now
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is we're gonna be able
to create the kind of an economy
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that produces good,
family-supporting jobs,
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higher wages that
will be there for people
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who are stuck in poverty
and welfare to go to.
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This is going to be the new
economic challenge for America.
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People.
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Baby boomers are retiring.
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I did my part, but we need
[449]
to have higher birth rates
in this country.
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-I'm sorry.<i>
You</i> did you your part?
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You know who might have
something to say about that?
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Your wife.
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If I had turned to my wife
right after my son was born
[460]
and said,
"Well, I did my part,"
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I'm pretty sure,
she would've picked me up
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and broken me over her knee
like Bane.
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[ Laughter and applause ]
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It tells you everything you need
to know about the Trump era
[470]
if this is how 2017 is ending,
[472]
with Republicans
ransacking the country,
[474]
taking healthcare
away from millions,
[475]
and then telling women
that the solution is for them
[477]
to have more babies.
[478]
Working and middle-class people
[480]
overwhelmingly
dislike this bill.
[481]
Meanwhile,
corporations and the wealthy
[483]
are looking at it
and saying it's...
[485]
-Fine, fine, fine.
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-This has been "A Closer Look."
[488]
[ Cheers and applause ]
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