WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) this morning joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the GOP tax bill. 

“As the Republicans barrel towards trying to deliver on President Trump's Christmas promise of a big gift to the American people, I'm struck at the difference between what President Trump campaigned on, a real middle class tax cut, and what this tax bill seems to be, which is something that will add $1.5 trillion to our deficits and debt and that overwhelmingly favors the wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations.” 

“There have been no public hearings on this bill. It was introduced and rushed immediately to markup. There was a Finance Committee markup but there were no hearings. So, actually understanding what's in this package is something that will only be known once it's passed. When one party tries to ram through a big piece of legislation without including the other, without public hearings, the results don't usually turn out as well, as hopeful or as expected. That's going to be true here as well, I think." 

Full audio and video available here.

Excerpts from the interview: 

Senator Coons on the future of the tax bill: Well, I hope not but that certainly seems more likely today, after it advanced through the Budget Committee. I'll remind you and our viewers that there are still significant differences between the Senate version and the House version that will have to be worked out. As the Republicans barrel towards trying to deliver on President Trump's Christmas promise of a big gift to the American people, I'm struck at the difference between what President Trump campaigned on, a real middle class tax cut, and what this tax bill seems to be, which is something that will add $1.5 trillion to our deficits and debt and that overwhelmingly favors the wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations. 

More on the tax bill: A number of real fiscal conservatives who continue to be concerned of deficits and debt like Senator Corker are trying to add into this bill some sort of trigger mechanism that would roll back some of the bigger tax cuts if the growth that's promised doesn't materialize and deficits soar. That might be too little, too late to fix the hole in our annual budget that would be caused by this bill but I at least commend Senator Corker for trying to slow down this hurdling train and look at it and try to fix it. I'm still struck by the difference between what Donald Trump campaigned on and what this bill is actually delivering, which will be significant cuts that will harm lots of middle class Americans by eliminating all sorts of things on which they rely and giving permanent tax cuts to America's corporations. 

More on the tax bill: The last time tax reform happened under President Reagan more than 30 years ago, there were dozens of hearings. It was truly bipartisan and revenue-neutral. There have been no public hearings on this bill. It was introduced and rushed immediately to markup. There was a Finance Committee markup but there were no hearings. So, actually understanding what's in this package is something that will only be known once it's passed. When one party tries to ram through a big piece of legislation without including the other, without public hearings, the results don't usually turn out as well, as hopeful or as expected. That's going to be true here as well, I think. 

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