Orrin Hatch protests too much. | The New Republic

Orrin Hatch protests too much.

The senator from Utah wants you to know that he comes from poor people and that he definitely cares about them, thank you very much. Hatch made the comments during a Friday hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, after Sherrod Brown accused Republicans, who are trying to pass a huge tax reform package that skews heavily toward the rich, of working on behalf of the rich. “It would be nice, tonight, just before we go home, to acknowledge who this tax cut is really for,” Brown said. “It’s not for the middle class, it’s for the rich. ... Spare us the sarcasm.”

Hatch did spare the sarcasm, but not the sanctimony:

“I’ve been here working my whole stinking career for people who don’t have a chance,” Hatch said. “And I really resent anybody who says I’m just doing this for the rich, give me a break.”

“I think you guys just overplay that all the time and it gets old, frankly you ought to quit,” he continued. “I get kind of sick and tired of it ... It’s a nice political play, but it’s not true.”

In reality, it’s hard to defend a bill that would both raise taxes for families making under $75,000 a year and cut taxes for owners of private planes as being beneficial for the poor.

Logo

Independent journalism matters

×

Ads help fund our journalism. Please disable your ad blocker so that we can continue striving to be the most influential magazine in Washington, D.C., with our breaking news coverage, in-depth political features, and much more.

Continue without disabling

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).