Robert L. Crandall is former CEO and chairman of American Airlines. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own.

(CNN) On December 2, the Senate passed a tax bill that is both mean and stupid.

The bill is stupid because it cuts taxes for US corporations -- which are enjoying record profits and heady valuations -- and for the country's wealthiest citizens -- who have done spectacularly well and now control a larger share of the country's income and wealth than ever.

Moreover, it does so in part by eventually raising taxes on the US middle class, who have fallen behind in the economic race and need help rather than more taxes, and in part by increasing the already gigantic US debt.

It is particularly stupid because there is a broad consensus of bipartisan agencies and economists who agree it cannot increase growth by anywhere near enough to offset the revenue losses driven by the tax cuts. We've tested the idea that tax cuts pay for themselves several times and in each case, have found that growth-related revenue falls far short of replacing lost tax revenues.

The bill is mean because to force fit the tax cut into the convoluted reconciliation process the Senate is using to bypass the need to attract 60 votes, the bill incorporates and depends upon a wide variety of service cuts. It's not surprising that Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, has called the GOP tax plans, which include a House-passed version, a "moral abomination."

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