Viral

The GOP Released A Copy Of Their Controversial Tax Bill At The Last Minute, And No One Can Read It


Getty Image

Despite the loss of Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-Tennessee) vote from the roster of Senate Republicans trying to pass it, the GOP’s controversial tax reform bill is still alive. After all, it scored a “yes” from Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) on Thursday, a political move that may very well guarantee the bill’s success should the Senate finally survive Friday’s ongoing debate and vote on it. Yet with a handful of other Republican politicians refraining from throwing their weight behind the legislation (let alone the guarantee of a vote on Friday night), the fight against it isn’t over. But the GOP leadership is apparently trying to rush the bill through before opposition to it causes any “yay” votes to flip to “nays.”

This is especially evident now that copies of the bill, complete with illegible, handwritten addendums and margin notes, have been published online. “I wish I were making this up,” tweeted Chad Bolt, a policy manager at the nonprofit organization The Indivisible Project. “Handwritten text up and down the margins.” Sure enough, according to the page pulled from the 479-page bill’s recent PDF scan, a long note of additions written in the right margin becomes increasingly harder to read as it progresses.

“An unsearchable PDF with handwriting all over it,” said Seth Hanlon, a former special assistant to President Obama who now works for the group American Progress. “This is the new tax code. To be voted on by the US Senate in just hours.”

https://twitter.com/SethHanlon/status/936731238639030274


Needless to say, Bolt and Hanlon weren’t the only bewildered politicos pointing out just how unreadable the handwritten changes to the tax reform bill were. Democratic senators and representatives, as well as political commentators and Twitter trolls, couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

https://twitter.com/dylanlscott/status/936741381548146688


Of course, there were plenty of jokes too, because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://twitter.com/ParkerMolloy/status/936750938324373509

https://twitter.com/TVMcGee/status/936740790428143622

https://twitter.com/davidehrlich/status/936718847293390850