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U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy both voted against the bill after speaking out against it on the floor of the Senate.
“Teachers, factory workers, nurses – they’re the ones who deserve a tax cut, not big corporations or people who are rich already,” Murphy said via Twitter just after the vote at about 2 a.m.
"The lion's share of this bill benefits a handful of wealthy elites, while actually driving up costs for millions of working people," he said in statement. "This bill jacks up health care premiums, raises taxes for 60 percent of middle-income earners, and increases the national debt by over a trillion dollars.
"Billionaires and corporations do great, but most everyone else in Connecticut will do worse," Murphy said. "This bill, written in haste and passed in the dead of night with absolutely no ability for the American public to look at it, will be a disaster for the economy. It's not too late for Republicans to go back to the drawing board and work with Democrats to come up with a bipartisan bill that helps the people who really need tax relief.”
Blumenthal called the bill a GOP tax scam.
“Americans will remember this day – and the Senate Republican majority will rue it – for the catastrophic scam foisted on the American people in the dead of night," he said in a statement. "It is a bait and switch, promising a simpler and fairer tax code, and actually making it more complex and unfair. It promises relief for all, but massive permanent tax cuts go mostly to corporations and the wealthy, while the crumbs to the middle class are small and temporary."
He blasted some of the changes in the bill.
"It eliminates critical deductions of state and local taxes and casualty losses for home repairs. It imposes a mountain of debt on our children and grandchildren. The people of Connecticut are particularly harmed by this malicious, malign bill,” Blumenthal said.
“Tragically for our nation, it drives deeper divisions – creating more income inequality and uncertainty, engendering increased anger and anxiety, and undermining our democracy. The feeble claim that it will lead to more jobs and economic growth is magical thinking – deft delusion or outright deception at an enormous price.”
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy also criticized the bill.
“This legislation is not a tax cut, but rather a full-out assault on working people. It deals a serious blow to affordable healthcare by repealing key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which will leave 13 million more Americans uninsured and raise health insurance premiums at the same time," Malloy said.
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