Bernie Sanders and Democrats Have Waged 'War On Kentucky,' Says McConnell

BY NICOLE GOODKIND ON 12/22/17 AT 3:39 PM

Bernie Sanders is waging a “war on Kentucky” by forcing Republicans to remove a provision in the GOP tax plan this week that would have helped a Bluegrass State college for low-income students, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blasted the firebrand independent a hypocrite.

The new war goes back to Tuesday night, when Sanders and other Democrats successfully challenged a higher education endowment tax that would have exempted tuition-free schools with fewer than 500 tuition-paying students and endowments larger than $500,000 per full-time student—a carve-out that apparently only applies to Berea College in McConnell’s home state.

The Senate parliamentarian agreed that the provisions violated the Senate’s budget rules, so it was scrapped. McConnell was enraged. “They didn’t have to raise the challenge when required,” he said. “They chose to. And in the process they knowingly hurt schools that provide tuition-free education to students who can’t otherwise afford to go to college. This is especially hypocritical coming from the man who claims to support free college for all. I remember the presidential campaign last year.”

Sanders claimed that McConnell added the provision knowing that it went against parliamentary rules and that it would be flagged. “I am glad that Senator McConnell has suddenly developed an interest in making college affordable for working class families. I would hope, therefore, that he would co-sponsor my legislation making all public colleges and universities tuition-free,” he said. “I do find it ironic that, while taxing higher education, Senator McConnell’s legislation provided massive tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations.”

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http://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-war-kentucky-tax-plan-mitch-mcconnell-757468