What’s your take on the tax bill that just passed? As someone who is below the poverty line and has a fiancee who was going to pursue a graduate degree, it seems like it hurts us almost purposely. Also, it seems like a worse version of the Bush tax cuts that stagnated wages for the non rich and didn’t do our econ any favors. Is this right?

It is substantially worse than the Bush tax cuts. With those, Republicans were content to A. have the cuts be temporary, B. give everyone at least some nominal cut, and C. increase the deficit/debt rather than raising taxes on the bottom to pay for cuts on the top. 

Both the House and Senate bills give permanent massive tax cuts to corporations (and to wealthy people who can structure themselves as pass-through companies), and to pay for it make all the cuts for individuals temporary, which works out to a tax increase for the vast majority when they go away. Many aspects of the bills are designed to punish blue states (SALT and mortgage caps will hit middle class and affluent people in states that have income taxes and higher property values) and blue voters (the grad tax, for example). Finally, eliminating the individual mandate will leave millions without health insurance and higher premiums for everyone else.