Tax Bill Kickbacks Show How Deep GOP Corruption Goes

The Congressional self-dealing, especially in the Senate, in this Republican tax bill illustrates just how rotten to the core our political system has become.  The news that Bob Corker suddenly changed his vote after Orrin Hatch slipped in a last-minute provision that specifically benefits real estate partnerships, of which Corker and, remarkably, Donald Trump will be major beneficiaries, shows how blatant the looting of the Treasury by and for Republican legislators has become.

At the high end, the benefits of this tax bill could add close to $1.2 million to Corker's bank balance. But apparently Corker is not the only Republican Senator who would benefit from this change. The International Business Times reports thirteen other GOP Senators also stand to gain from their substantial holdings in these kinds of passive real estate investment LLCs.

This follows on another obscure provision on pipeline companies inserted by John Cornyn that also specifically benefited Ted Cruz and the top two members of the Texas delegation in the House as well as another 11 Republicans.

The focus on what shortly became known as the "Corker Kickback" created even more fallout for Corker and the Republicans. First, John Cornyn stated that certain provisions were inserted into the bill specifically to win certain members' votes. Considering there were not that many Republican votes that still needed winning and Corker's was on of those, the assumption that this real estate provision was targeted at Corker seemed entirely reasonable.

Corker's initial defense was that he had not read the bill and was therefore unaware of this provision. That excuse seems somewhat at odds with his duty as a representative of the state of Tennessee and calls into question his decision to switch his vote without really knowing what he was voting for.

Even worse, the focus on Corker's investment in these real estate LLCs and the resulting inquiries from the press seem to have also provoked Corker to go back and restate millions of missing dollars in income from real estate, hedge funds, and other investments on his personal financial disclosure form. Corker's misstatements of income go back a decade and potentially understated his income by up to $15 million. In fact, it appears that Corker's disclosures were rife with errors not only in reporting but in calculations of income and, in one case, actually overreported his income.

Of course, according to the Journal, "There are no penalties for filing amendments, in part because Congress doesn’t want to punish lawmakers for fixing prior mistake." Unfortunately, that also provides no incentive for members to actually report their income accurately, as Corker clearly demonstrates.

With the election of Trump, the Republican party has become quite open about its racism and exactly who its masters really are. As multiple members of Congress have readily admitted, this tax bill is primarily a kickback to their deep-pocketed donors. And, apparently, the kickbacks must also be openly paid to the party's own members in order to purchase their votes. Tell me how this is different from a banana republic.