Merry Christmas to me — a terrible tax bill.

Having to explain to devout traditional conservatives their party failed them has been quite challenging. On Dec. 1 at 2 a.m., 51 Senate Republicans passed a bill with scribbles all over it before any senator could read the contents of its 500 pages.

The bill is in its final stages and ready to be approved, pending Congress’ final say.

If the average person is convinced this will be a tax cut, he or she is mistaken. It is so unfortunate the right has branded a bill that provides tax cuts for large corporations or anyone earning over $200,000 a year as a bill for the middle class, and it just simply is not.

This bill does nothing for the working class, nothing for small businesses and produces an anti-intellectualism sentiment.

To detail some of its failures so Senate Republicans could appease their big donors and continue to receive their large campaign contributions, corporations will now have an easier time outsourcing their jobs to other countries. While it was nice and cute Trump promised to bring jobs to America, this bill pulls a “180” on that promise.

The GOP claims this bill will pay for itself. How?

By taking more money from poor people so rich people can get even richer. Trickle-down economics doesn’t work. We tried it with Reagan. It failed then, and it undoubtedly will fail now.

Big businesses earn enough gross profit to hire more people now, to trickle down their exorbitant wealth, but they have no interest in doing that now or under this new tax overhaul.

This bill will increase the deficit by $1.4 billion over time, just enough to avoid the requirement of passing a bill by a simple majority rather than 60 votes. Remember when Sen. Jeff Flake said he would not vote for a bill that increased the deficit by a dime?

Funny, me too.

In defense of the bill, Sen. Orrin Hatch literally said he does not want to spend “billions and billions and trillions of dollars” on CHIP, a program to provide sick and poor children with insurance.

First, Hatch is mistaken by how much we spend on CHIP. Secondly, this literally says, “Screw you sick kids! Get a job!” These are children who have nothing and cannot do anything about their circumstances.

My bad, I thought Hatch was anti-abortion. Mistaken, I am.

But don’t take my word. The Congressional Budget Office confirms this bill is bad for the American people.

By 2027, Americans who make between $40,000 and $50,000 will collectively pay $5.3 billion more in the tax overhaul than in the current tax system. But, don’t worry, because individuals making more than $1 million dollars or more will collectively pay $5.8 billion less in the new tax system!

While temporary relief may allow individuals to earn maybe an extra few hundred dollars a year in the short term, there is no chance than an extra $500 will enable a person to climb the economic ladder.

Tangentially, the CBO has reminded us this bill will affect health care, leaving 13 million more people uninsured due to a rise in premiums for insurance plans. This effect is because the GOP, through a “tax” bill, has repealed the individual mandate. Remember when Sen. Susan Collins saved the day on health care back in September? Not this time.

If anything positive lies ahead, it’s the recent news that the tax bill at least will no longer include the elimination of tax deductions on student loan interest payments or a tax hike to students attending graduate school.

My friends, if you are Donald Trump, a large corporation, a rich person with money in the stock market or a rich kid, Merry Christmas to you!

Madison Newingham is a columnist. Contact her at [email protected].