The Senate is expected to vote on a Republican-drafted tax bill tonight, one that’s likely to include extensive cuts to the estate tax and other provisions targeting America’s wealthiest 1 percent. We say “likely to,” because very few people on the planet actually know what’s in the 479-page document at the moment, something that’s provoked ire and irritation from a number of left-leaning senators on social media today. Several elected officials posted videos and pictures tonight venting about the massive document, which was apparently delivered to their offices just a few hours before the expected vote, and appears to be covered in scribbled-over amendments and murky additional language.
One of the most dramatic videos comes courtesy of Montana’s Jon Tester, slamming the massive block of pages on a desk and inviting readers to attempt to decipher the congressional chicken scratch. Meanwhile, New Jersey’s Bob Menendez posted another set of images, questioning what various crossed-out pages and random lines actually mean:
Others, like Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker (who’s attempting to live-read the entire document on a stream right now), have expressed their anger at the impossibility of reading such a huge document in a single afternoon.
Sen. Mitch McConnell has said that, despite various call-in campaigns, he believes he has the votes to get the tax bill passed. (Not that people shouldn’t keep trying.) In the meantime, at least we have the solace of watching our elected officials roll out their printer-based gallows humor to keep us briefly distracted from the likelihood that this thing will actually pass.
Meanwhile, a few of these non-congressional tweets actually made us laugh: