Desperate for a signature accomplishment, in December 2017 the GOP hurriedly rammed a tax bill through Congress. But while Paul Ryan and other fiscal conservatives had long dreamed of large-scale tax reform that would simplify the bloated and confusing tax code and allow ordinary Americans to file their taxes on a postcard, the bill they came up with did not come close to that goal. Instead, it gave a massive tax break to corporations and the wealthy while blowing a $1.5 trillion hole in the deficit.
