‘Magic Math’ Seen Hiding $3.8 Trillion in GOP Red Ink

Senate Republicans are moving forward with a plan to mask the $3.8 trillion cost of extending expiring tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s signature economic legislation. GOP senators voted Monday in favor of a plan that says renewing the party’s 2017 tax cuts, which are set to expire, somehow costs nothing.

What’s seen by Democrats as a brazen attempt at accounting sleight of hand allows the GOP to both mollify Trump with more of his populist wish list and satisfy the party’s self-described fiscal conservatives. The renewal of tax cuts that largely go to the rich and corporations will come at the expense of millions of lower income and disabled Americans who will no longer have healthcare of assistance buying food.