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Letter: Hatch’s righteous indignation is ‘bullcrap’

From left, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, make statements to reporters as work gets underway on the Senate's version of the GOP tax reform bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

From left, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, make statements to reporters as work gets underway on the Senate's version of the GOP tax reform bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)


Righteous indignation is often used by politicians when the truth doesn’t serve them.

On Nov. 16, I was dismayed as our Sen. Orrin Hatch, a key player in the GOP’s proposed tax plan, became “righteously” indignant toward Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown. Referencing Congressional Budget Office estimates of who would and who would not benefit under the GOP tax plan, Brown expressed his concerns regarding the big winners of the bill — billionaires and corporations, with losers being those who earn under $75,000.

Hatch knows that rich donors have been upset about not getting results from their hefty investments toward congressional re-election campaigns. Our aging senator from Utah, with precious little truth to respond with to Brown, opted to go self-righteous as he sought to use indignation to deflect Brown’s factual expressions.

“Allowing” Brown to “spout off,” Hatch spouted off himself about coming from lower middle class beginnings, etc., and “gets sick and tired” of false statements from Democrats. After the indignant words, Hatch cooled down a bit, and justified his outburst, saying, “It takes a lot to get me stirred up like this.” Truth is, it upsets most of us when we are “called” on our false statements.

Quoting Hatch, I want to say that I am personally “sick and tired” of being told, by GOP leaders what a massive tax cut this is for all classes of citizens. Using the same words Mr. Hatch did, I will conclude with this, “Frankly, Sen. Hatch, that’s just bullcrap.”

Martin Roundy, Springville

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