The Senate is preparing to vote on changes to the U.S. tax system that promise to fundamentally alter how we operate as a nation.
No one really knows what is in the Republican bill (they’re still making changes in the hours before the vote) but the outlines from all analyses so far indicate massive benefits to the rich at the expense of the poor and middle class. This was certainly true of the bill passed in the House that I noted recently.
With the GOP approach that gives tax credits for owners of private jets and the removes credits to teachers buying classroom supplies we will see inequality explode. We are moving to an America where a small number of people at the top are Executive Platinum frequent flyers and everyone else is down below, riding the dog, stuck in traffic.
Have you earned enough status to receive all of the perks in the Republican tax bill?
As Ronald Brownstein put it in the Atlantic, if you’re a white Baby Boomer, have a better chance to get your seat upgrade and bottle service. “The baby boom is being evicted from the penthouse of American politics. And on the way out, it has decided to trash the place,” he wrote. He noted that while the Boomer VIP status was ending, we’ll still be stuck behind their velvet rope for the next several years at least.
In the meantime, enjoy a Velvet Rope cocktail. Via Kindred Cocktails, the Velvet Rope is:
2 oz Rittenhouse Rye
.5 oz Velvet Falernum
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Orange twist
Stir over ice, strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with an orange twist
Cheers!
Gin & Bitters 