Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) railed last week against Republicans’ proposal to modestly reduce unemployment insurance benefits. Republicans were concerned that the $600 weekly unemployment insurance benefit has harmed the recovery from the severe disruptions caused by partial economic shutdowns in response to COVID-19.

Before diving into the details of the Senate’s version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, let’s run through the latest in the House of Representatives. The lower chamber’s version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1, was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday, November 9 in a party-line vote.

A little more than a month ago, the White House and tax-writers in the House and Senate rolled out the Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code. The goal of the framework was to provide a sign to both members of Congress and the American people on the direction that the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee would take when they began work on this crucial effort.

When Congress passed a budget for fundamental tax reform last week, ten big-government Republican Congressmen from New York and New Jersey protested. These members are upset that Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) is expected to introduce a tax plan this week that eliminates the state and local tax deduction (SALT), a shield that protects rich liberals from high taxes.

Americans like their tax deductions, but mainly because the tax rate to begin with is too high. This same principle holds for the state and local tax (SALT) deduction currently part of the 74,000+ page federal tax code. This deduction seems like a good idea, but Americans would be much better off with this deduction eliminated, and instead given real tax breaks across the board. Fortunately, the GOP tax reform framework released at the beginning of the month does just this.

Good tax policy means having low rates and a broad tax base. To finance a reduction in individual and corporate income tax rates and the lowering of capital gains and dividend tax rates to spark economic growth, Congress, which is gearing up for fundamental tax reform, will look for ways to broaden the tax base through the elimination of certain tax loopholes, such as tax credits and deductions, that taxpayers can currently claim when they itemize when filing their tax return.