Not very long ago, politicians used to buy "yes" votes from reluctant congresspeople by adding goodies for the home district of the hold outs. People got really upset at it (remember the controversy over "earmarks"?) but at least it benefited some constituents.
The Republicans are trying to push this tax bill through with only Republican votes, so that means they need to do some horse trading to win over the ones sitting on the fence. But the crazy thing about this horse trading is the fact that what they are adding to the bill are not provisions that would benefit the people of the hold-out's district or state (that would make the bill more expensive, which means they would have to pair back something else to make the math work). Instead they are adding provisions that would personally enrich the hold-outs, without doing anything for their constituents.
This is not "looking out for your home district/state", this is looking out for yourself. It is a not-so-tacit admission that the current crop of Republican congresspeople are only concerned with their personal well-being and don't give a rat's ass for the people they supposedly represent.
The Republicans are trying to push this tax bill through with only Republican votes, so that means they need to do some horse trading to win over the ones sitting on the fence. But the crazy thing about this horse trading is the fact that what they are adding to the bill are not provisions that would benefit the people of the hold-out's district or state (that would make the bill more expensive, which means they would have to pair back something else to make the math work). Instead they are adding provisions that would personally enrich the hold-outs, without doing anything for their constituents.
This is not "looking out for your home district/state", this is looking out for yourself. It is a not-so-tacit admission that the current crop of Republican congresspeople are only concerned with their personal well-being and don't give a rat's ass for the people they supposedly represent.
