{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sarbanes.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/new-report-shows-republicans-admitting-that-tax-bill-is-primarily-for", "New Report Shows Republicans Admitting that Tax Bill Is Primarily for Their Wealthy Donors", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MD", "John Sarbanes", "S001168", "sarbanes.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today released a new mini-report, \u201cRepublicans Take Truth Serum: The GOP Is Accidentally Telling the Truth about Their Tax Scam.\u201d The report shows that as the GOP-led House and Senate race forward to pass their tax plan, some Republican Members of Congress and conservative ideologues are admitting that the bill is largely a gift for their wealthy donors.\n\u201cRepublican Members of Congress are spilling the beans about their tax scam,\u201d said Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Rep. John Sarbanes. \u201cPresident Trump and Congressional Republicans claim that this bill will benefit the middle class, but in a moment of jarring honesty, quite a few Republicans are confessing that it\u2019s really for their wealthy donors and politically connected rent-seekers.\u201d\nSarbanes continued, \u201cThis tax bill is more evidence that the wealthy and well-connected are poisoning our government and our politics in ways that harm the American people. We need to put people\u2019s interests ahead of special interests. It\u2019s time for government of, by and for the people.\u201d\nReport highlights include:\n \nRepublicans are feeling pressure to pass their tax scam because, as Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) said, \u201cMy donors are basically saying, \u2018Get it done or don\u2019t ever call me again.\u2019\u201d (Source)\n \n \nRep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) said the bill is \u201cfundamentally a corporate tax reduction,\u201d but that it\u2019s being sold as a middle-class tax cut because Republicans are scared of the bill \u201cbeing labeled as what might be best for [President Trump].\u201d (Source)\n \n \nIf Republicans don\u2019t pass their $1.5 trillion giveaway to the donor class, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said, \u201cfinancial contributions will stop.\u201d (Source)\n \n  \n\tSee here for a full copy of the report.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sarbanes.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/new-report-shows-republicans-admitting-that-tax-bill-is-primarily-for"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.451981021091342, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}