Paul Ryan: We'll Keep Congress in D.C. 'Till Christmas If We Have to' For Tax Reform

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, answers questions during an interview with Julie Pace, AP chief of bureau in Washington; and Erica Werner, AP congressional correspondent, at the Associated Press bureau in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday morning that he’ll keep lawmakers in Washington, D.C., “till Christmas” if that’s what it takes to pass tax reform.

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“We’re gonna keep people here till Christmas if we have to. I mean, I don’t care. We’ve got to get this done,” Ryan said during an event at the conservative Heritage Foundation think Tank.

President Donald Trump promised throughout his campaign to reform the tax code, which he said is overly complicated and unfair to average, middle-class workers.

So far, the Republican-controlled Congress has failed to act on the issue.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said earlier this year that he’d hoped to have tax reform by the end of this summer. When that didn’t happen, Mnuchin said it would happen by the end of the year.

But given Congress’ inability thus far to even repeal and replace Obamacare, something the party has promised for literally the better part of a decade it would do, I’m extremely skeptical that we’ll all wake up to lower taxes on Christmas morning.

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If Republicans fail to pass tax reform this year, it’s unlikely they will act on it next year, seeing as how 2018 is a midterm election year. And, if voters head to the polls in November 2018 with Obamacare still in tact and the current tax code still in place, Republicans should not be surprised if their majorities in the House and Senate are completely slaughtered.

Certainly, I hope I’m wrong. However, I fear that I’m not.

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