described. you want to recall the following. in 1986, there were 450 witnesses who offered testimony. there were 30 public hearings on the tax reform act of 86. we have had no public hearings on this legislation. we sought no witness testimony on this legislation. and the entire revenue structure of the country in three and a half weeks from the time the bill put before the ways and means committee to sign the conference report and then perhaps vote on it early next week, there s been no input from democrats. and, josh barro, the public is no more happy with it than democrats are. yeah. it s remarkable. they get it to the president s desk in probably a week or two and then start paying taxes under the new law on january 1st of 2018. so, i mean, it is not enough time for employers to change withholding and do it after the start of the year and then some of the stuff in this bill is really complicated.
ways and means recalled how it was done in 1986 when it was done right. let s listen to what he described. you want to recall the following. in 1986, there were 450 witnesses who offered testimony. there were 30 public hearings on the tax reform act of 86. we have had no public hearings on this legislation. we sought no witness testimony on this legislation. and the entire revenue structure of the country in three and a half weeks from the time the bill put before the ways and means committee to sign the conference report and then perhaps vote on it early next week, there s been no input from democrats. and, josh barro, the public is no more happy with it than democrats are. yeah. it s remarkable. they get it to the president s desk in probably a week or two and then start paying taxes under the new law on january 1st
richard neil of massachusetts democratic member of the house ways and means recalled how it was done in 1986 when it was done right. let s listen to what he described. you want to recall the following. in 1986, there were 450 witnesses who offered testimony. there were 30 public hearings on the tax reform act of 86. we have had no public hearings on this legislation. we sought no witness testimony on this legislation. and the entire revenue structure of the country in three and a half weeks from the time the bill put before the ways and means committee to sign the conference report and then perhaps vote on it early next week, there s been no input from democrats. and, josh barro, the public is no more happy with it than democrats are. yeah. it s remarkable. they get it to the president s desk in probably a week or two and then start paying taxes under the new law on january 1st of 2018. so, i mean, it is not enough time for employers to change withholding and do it after the s
this legislation. and the entire revenue structure of the country in about 3 1/2 weeks from the time this bill was put before the ways and means committee until the time that they re going to sign this conference report and then perhaps vote on it early next week, there has been no input from democrats. well, can you help me on the input here? because why is it that the top tax rate, the richest people, are getting a cut to 37% when i can t find anyone, any portion, that asked for that? it wasn t in either side. it s not like you re seeing rich people protest on the hill. you know, 38%, 37%. where did this come from? well, i was surprised. i thought it was a pretty bad bill to start with. they made it worse by cutting the top rate from 39.6% to 37%. when you consider who s going to draw that benefit, who s going to derive that benefit, it s extraordinary to me that they would have actually been that bold in doing it. if you ll recall at the beginning of this conversation
julie: too bad for the fish! and six weeks since the governor is taking on one of the wealthiest states in the country, done a different path, a state that faces the largest per capita deficit in the nation, now faces $1.5 billion in tax hikes. for more income, sales and gas tax and cigarettes and alcohol and hair cuts and pet grooming and pa let pa lates and pilates. senate what we don t want to see are cuts in services, job losses and a revenue structure that can continues to let the wealthy off the hook. it is something that a democratic governor who has substantial union support in his campaign, can do in a realistic way. reporter: en all there are 44 states including the district of columbia facing budget shortfalls in 2010, totaling