TAX BILL NO SURE THING – AT 11:22 A.M. ET:  It's down to the wire in the Senate, where Republican leaders don't yet have the votes to pass the Senate GOP's version of the tax bill.  From Bloomberg: 

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet Tuesday with Senate Republicans in a crucial week for his presidency and his tax plan that could decide whether he ends his first year with a major legislative achievement.

Last-minute threats to the tax cuts that Trump has promised since early in his long-shot presidential campaign are looming among Senate Republicans. Concerns center on the taxation of partnerships, limited liabilities and other companies; on the overall cost of the tax bill itself; and on a familiar GOP stumbling block -- Obamacare.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah said Monday. “This is going to be a tough, tough time.”

Senate Republican leaders aren’t counting on any Democrats for a floor vote that could come Thursday or Friday -- but that means they can afford to lose only two members of their own party.

COMMENT:  It is possible that no bill will emerge from Congress this year.  That is not the ultimate crisis, but it is serious.  The president has made a promise, and he wants to keep it.

The Senate could come back after its holiday recess and try again. 

The real shame is on the Democratic side.  The Democrats will not even deal with the GOP on a tax bill.  Reasonable compromises would get a tax-reform package passed, but the Democratic Party is under the control of its left wing, which doesn't even believe in tax cuts.

And, once again, we ask where those "moderate" Democrats are.  As usual, after all their talk of moderation at election time, they're taking their orders from the nut wing, to avoid primary challenges.

November 28,  2017