The slasher movie begins

The Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have put a new guy in charge of the tax system, and hoo boy. His name is Jason Smith, he's from Missouri, and guess who got him where he is today.

Yessiree. And on his Twitter page, Smith can't wait to tell us how "Christian" he is. It's a good thing Jesus rose from the dead, because he'd be rolling over in the tomb if he were still in it.

As the new chair of the Ways and Means Committee (and the youngest one ever), Smith will be orchestrating all the usual shenanigans when the GOP talks tax. Demonize the IRS, hand out money galore to the rich and the multinational corporations while decrying the deficit, try to privatize Social Security, on and on it will go, for at least 23 months.

Earl the Pearl Blumenauer, Portland's grouchy über-lib Congressman, is on Smith's committee. I might have to set the recorder to catch the hearings on C-Span, just to see Earl's comical facial expressions.

From time to time Smith with be facing off against another Oregonian (sort of), the Senate Finance Committee chair, Ron Wyden. And if old Ron's long career shows us anything about how it's going to go, Smith will eat his lunch on a regular basis.

Now, I'm a guy whose job it is to keep up with tax law changes, and so legislative gridlock is my friend. But I shudder to think what the American tax system is going to be put through by Smith and his Trumpy pals over the next couple of years. My thoughts and prayers go out especially to IRS Danny.