With a deadline looming, congressional leaders unveiled "sweeping" tax and spending legislation late last night. The result makes one wonder whether congressional Republicans negotiate directly with President Obama on these deals, or whether they just send corporate lobbyists‎ to do so, thereby cutting out the middle man.
The Wall Street Journal , needed to make full repeal a reality. The delay of that tax is also a big win for labor unions.
But that's just the beginning.
The Journal , "In one major concession to Democrats, the spending bill won't cut off federal funding to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, as many conservatives had sought."
The Journal also reports that "the deal would adopt environmental and renewable measures that Democrats want. These include extending wind and solar tax credits, reauthorizing a conservation fund for three years and excluding any measures that block major administration environmental regulations."
And that's not all: "Lawmakers and aides said the spending bill doesn't include any restrictions on the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the U.S." (It does, however, reportedly "limit certain travel privileges granted to citizens of 38 friendly foreign countries that are allowed to enter the U.S. without obtaining a visa.")
All was not lost, however: In its print edition, the Journal reports, "In one of the biggest GOP policy victories, the spending bill includes a provision lifting the 40-year-old ban on oil exports, Republicans said Tuesday night."
Perhaps the best part of the deal is a preservation of the status quo—Republicans apparently didn't cave on the Obamacare insurer bailout.
The Journal concisely sums up who emerges victorious under this deal: "The likely winners include large manufacturers, medical device makers and labor unions, who would all get tax breaks they've been seeking for years." Doesn't that sound great for Main Street?
And Republicans wonder why Donald Trump is leading -- some would say -- the race to be their party's presidential nominee.