Most people would have "more money in their pocker" also if they sold their car and rode the bus

[Tom Rinaldo]

You get what you pay for. You also get what you don't pay for. The more things we stop paying for the more money we all get to "keep in our pocket". Eat less food, more money in your pocket. Stop repairing bridges, build fewer schools, more money in your pocket - until you no longer have the skills to land a job or a way to get to one even if you did.

Most of the reporting on the Republican tax cut bill is brain dead. The online calculators they provide to see who "wins" and who "loses" don't scratch the surface of the story which can be boiled down to this. Republicans are offering the average family thirty pieces of silver (if they are among the luckier ones) in return for Republican donors getting the keys to Fort Knox.

Our kids and grandkids get massive credit card bills to pay later in return, with skimpier resources for them to draw on then than we still have now to pay for it. This nation, and their future, is being run into the ground and allowed to rot in order to indulge the greedy. But that's supposed to be A OK just so long as an average family of four gets to keep a little more money in their pockets: Until their tax cuts expire, or until they need a type of assistance that their government used to provide but no longer can afford - whichever comes first.

[SamKnause]

1. There are no buses, trains, subways, or cabs where I live.

I don't know if Uber is available.

It is a 25 mile round trip to nearest grocery store.

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. The metaphor is even stronger if folks were to sell their cars and hitch hike instead

I live in a rural area too, to a lesser extent than you though. More money in your pocket isn't always a desirable choice if you also have to give up what that money was paying for.

[Hoyt]

2. Agree, but try explaining that to most people who will see more money in their paycheck early next

year.

You might as well try explaining "global warming" -- rather than "climate change" -- to someone standing in 4 feet of snow (when the average is 12 inches) who barely made it through high school and supports Trump because he's going to build a wall and bring jobs back.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. Can't be done in a 30 second TV or radio ad

But it can be done during a cable new show interview, or during a speech, or in print media. The Republicans have not been subtle about how they plan to use ballooning federal deficits to justify program cuts to the safety net people count on. Leading members have cited lack of available federal resources to defend not fully refunding CHIPs, and they openly state that "entitlement" reforms are next up in Congress.

We can boil it down to that. They are coming after your medicare and Social Security to pay for their tax cuts aimed at the rich. Is that worth a few bucks more each pay check until 2021when your individual tax cuts expire anyway?

[Hoyt]

5. I hope so.