Maybe the GOP tax bill is a hot mess, but if this is the best ammo the media have against it, Republicans don’t have too much to worry about:
https://twitter.com/germanrlopez/status/935565261708644352
More from Vox:
The alcohol industry has been lobbying for such cuts for years. It’s finally getting what it wanted: The Senate proposal would cut federal alcohol excise taxes by 16 percent by effectively reducing taxes across the board for beer, wine, and liquor over the next two years, according to a new analysis by Adam Looney at Brookings.
…
But economists and public health experts argue this would amount to a public health disaster; alcohol is if anything underpriced, they argue, given the external costs that it already carries. Consider: Alcohol is linked to 88,000 deaths each year in the US — making it the third leading cause of preventable death in America after smoking and the combination of poor diet and physical inactivity. And death is only one external cost of alcohol, with others including more crime, car crashes, and reduced economic output. All of this is enabled by cheap alcohol, which makes it easier to drink in excess.
This problem would be made worse by Congress’s tax cuts. Looney analyzes the research on alcohol prices and estimates that “the legislation will cause … approximately 1,550 total alcohol-related deaths annually from all causes.” Since the tax cuts expire after 2019, that amounts to 3,100 more preventable deaths over the next two years — and more if Congress extends the tax cuts further.
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Old and busted: Republicans want to push grandma off a cliff. New hotness: Republicans want Americans to drink themselves to death.
Reducing a tax kills people. Don’t you know anything!!
— BrokerDDT (@BrokerDDT) November 28, 2017
Sciencey. https://t.co/Une3J4YhhS
— David Edward ? (@_David_Edward) November 28, 2017
Super-duper sciencey.
Beyond parody. https://t.co/f0kAz1jPWs
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/AthenaTweets/status/935582502118309888
The problem with this scorching hot take is your use of the word “cause” here.
— Pat M. (@Fitz_DC) November 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/DRCoramWV/status/935576548261945345
No one, clearly. lmao
— Phalen Kuckuck (@Phalen_K) November 28, 2017
It's true. The bill requires Americans to consume a minimum of 12 shots of liquor daily. A controversial provision but it has its benefits. https://t.co/Ep7koV7Zfp
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) November 28, 2017
Good thing I am already 4 shots ahead of the daily minimum already.
— Bosco B Harry (@MaxStackheight) November 28, 2017
What if you don't drink alcohol at all? Will you have to start drinking?
— ?️ Tomasthanes ?️ (toe-MOSS-thuh-knees) (@Tomasthanes) November 28, 2017
So if it reduces Gas Tax, would that mean the bill causes an increase in Car Fatalities?
Or if it reduced tax on bicycles would it increase the number of deaths from exposure in National Parks and nature?
— MT Paige ✒️? (@R3dT4led) November 28, 2017
It makes total sense that a Republican tax bill is a part of a conspiracy to turn each and every one of us into Ted Kennedy.
— TheEschaton'sJanitor (@TEJanitor) November 28, 2017
Counterpoint: This is incredibly stupid and utterly unsupported by the evidence https://t.co/6l7S68MGFh
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) November 28, 2017
https://twitter.com/TheOpulentAmish/status/935576666218184704
Vox has gotta Vox.
— Mr. Jeremy J. Turner, Esq. (@MrJeremyTurner) November 28, 2017
***
Update:
Wouldn’t you know it? ThinkProgress went there, too:
Provision quietly tucked in GOP tax bill could lead to 1K+ people dying every year https://t.co/J03wRmA13u
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 28, 2017
The Left is ridiculous.
https://twitter.com/CuffyMeh/status/935513099666427907
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