$1.5 trillion tax bill - UPDATE 12/15/17....without the politics....

....without the politics....

The final details of the tax plan are due to be released later today (Friday, 12/15/17) by Congressional Republicans, with two important questions still hanging over a successful passage of the bill. 

1.  The first is on money, with the program needing to come in under the $1.5 trillion limit set by Congress. Every sweetener added to secure votes risks pushing deficits over that limit.

2.  Secondly, it remains unclear if there is enough support among Republican senators to get the deal done. In the last 24 hours, Senators Marco Rubio, Bob Corker, Mike Lee, Jeff Flake and Susan Collins have all said they are undecided on the vote.  [BLOOMBERG]

Republicans, who reached agreement Wednesday on a merged version of the House and Senate tax plans, expect to unveil the final bill on Friday [today 12/15/17] and vote on the legislation early next week so that it can be sent to President Trump before Christmas.

But those plans were thrown into some disarray on Thursday when Mr. Rubio said that he would vote no on the bill unless it included a greater expansion of the child tax credit, which he and another Republican senator, Mike Lee of Utah, have been pushing for to benefit lower-income individuals. [NY Times]