John Bouman: Just as the season of giving takes hold, congressional Republicans are advancing tax legislation at a breakneck pace that would deliver massive giveaways to the ultra-rich at the expense of everyone else. … After driving up the federal deficit by some $1.5 trillion dollars over the next decade to pay for those tax cuts to the super-wealthy, lawmakers will likely use these shortfalls as pretext to slash programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and food and housing assistance — just as congressional Republicans voted to do earlier this year. … The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has already warned lawmakers that their tax plan could trigger an automatic $25 billion cut to Medicare in 2018 alone… [ Visit Website ]