Category: US Senate

Roy Moore said taking away the right of women to vote would ‘eliminate many problems’

The following article by Zach Ford was posted on the ThinkProgress website December 11, 2017:

Removing all amendments after the Tenth “would eliminate many problems,” Moore said.

Alabama Republican Roy Moore faces Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama Senate runoff. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

In 2011, Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore agreed with a radio host known for promoting conspiracy theories that the United States would be better off if the seventeen constitutional amendments that followed the original Bill of Rights were repealed.

“That would eliminate many problems,” Moore said in audio unearthed by CNN. “You know people don’t understand how some of these amendments have completely tried to wreck the form of government that our forefathers intended.”

The amendments following the 10th Amendment served some fairly important functions in the U.S. government: Continue reading “Roy Moore said taking away the right of women to vote would ‘eliminate many problems’”

Taxing the rich to help the poor? Here’s what the Bible says

The following article by Mathew Schmalz, Associate Professor of Religion, College of the Holy Cross, was posted on the Conversation website December 10, 2017:

Credit: Associated

The new tax reform bill has led to an intense debate over whether it would help or hurt the poor. Tax reform in general raises critical issues about whether the government should redistribute income and promote equality in the first place.

Jews and Christians look to the Bible for guidance about these questions. And while the Bible is clear about aiding the poor, it does not provide easy answers about taxing the rich. But even so, over the centuries biblical principles have provided an understanding on how to help the needy.

The Hebrew Bible and the poor

The Hebrew Bible has extensive regulations that require the wealthy to set aside for the poor a portion of the crops that they grow. Continue reading “Taxing the rich to help the poor? Here’s what the Bible says”

Senators clash over direction of Russia, Clinton probes

The following article by Jordain Carney was posted on the Hill website December 10, 2017:

President Donald Trump, flanked by Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faces the prospect of the first government shutdown when one party controlled all levers of government. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Partisan tensions are mounting on the Senate Judiciary Committee, with both parties accusing the other of stonewalling.

The panel’s investigation into the 2016 election appears to have hit the skids, with members increasingly fighting over the direction of the probe.

Republicans want to dig back into Obama-era scandals, including the FBI’s handling of its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

But Democrats say the committee should be focused on potential collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Russia, as well as the circumstances of former FBI Director James Comey’s firing. Continue reading “Senators clash over direction of Russia, Clinton probes”

The Middle Class Might Not Even Notice If the GOP Cuts Their Taxes

The following article by Sahil Kapur was posted on the Bloomberg.com website December 11, 2017:

  • Americans didn’t notice similar measure in 2009, poll showed
  • Republicans seek ‘more middle-income tax relief,’ Roskam says
Jared Bernstein Credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

A funny thing happened when Congress approved a tax cut for the middle class eight years ago: Most Americans didn’t notice.

The 2009 economic-stimulus bill contained a one-year tax break worth $800 for married couples in 95 percent of working households — a little over $15 a week. A February 2010 poll found that just 12 percent said their taxes had been reduced. More than half, 53 percent, said they saw no change. A remarkable 24 percent thought their taxes had increased.

“Virtually nobody believed they got a tax cut,” said Jared Bernstein, an economist who worked in former President Barack Obama’s White House. He called it a source of frustration at the time. Continue reading “The Middle Class Might Not Even Notice If the GOP Cuts Their Taxes”

Precision sacrificed for speed as GOP rushes ahead on taxes

The following article by Erica Werner was posted on the Washington Post website December 10, 2017:

Now that the Senate and the House have passed two tax bills, there are some crucial differences they need to resolve in conference. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Republicans are moving their tax plan toward final passage at stunning speed, blowing past Democrats before they’ve had time to fully mobilize against it but leaving the measure vulnerable to the types of expensive problems popping up in their massive and complex plan.

Questionable special-interest provisions have been stuffed in along the way, out of public view and in some cases literally in the dead of night. Drafting errors by exhausted staff are cropping up and need fixes, which must be tackled by congressional negotiators working to reconcile competing versions of the legislation passed separately by the House and the Senate. Continue reading “Precision sacrificed for speed as GOP rushes ahead on taxes”

‘Very, very scary’: 8.8 million Americans face big tax hike if Republicans scrap the medical deduction

The following article by Heather Long was posted on the Washington Post website December 10, 2017:

Randy Sherfy has lived in a traumatic care facility since a driver hit him when he was 41. Cecilia “Sis” Tunnell has Alzheimer’s and requires intensive care. Both would end up paying thousands of dollars more in taxes if the medical deduction goes away, their families say. (Sherfy photo courtesy of Joe Sherfy; Tunnell photo courtesy of Mary Pagel).

Anne Hammer is one of millions of elderly Americans who could face a substantial tax hike in 2018 depending on the final negotiations over the Republican tax bill.

In her retirement community in Chestertown, Md., it’s the big topic of conversation.

Hammer is 71. Like many seniors, her medical bills are piling up. There are doctor visits, insurance premiums, drugs, a colonoscopy, a heart scan, an unexpected trip to the emergency room that lasted three days, ongoing monitoring for breast and ovarian cancer that run in her family and the costs of medical staff at her retirement community. Her out-of-pocket medical expenses vary, but she estimates they are about $20,000 a year.

Under current law, she can take a big medical deduction on her taxes. Last year, she was able to reduce her total taxable income by $16,000 because of the medical deduction alone, saving her over $3,000 on her tax bill. Continue reading “‘Very, very scary’: 8.8 million Americans face big tax hike if Republicans scrap the medical deduction”

The GOP’s all-out assault on justice

The following commentary by Dana Milbank was psoted on the Washington Post website December 8, 2017:

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters)

Thursday was Pearl Harbor Day, the anniversary of one of the deadliest attacks on American soil and perhaps the most unifying day in American history.

This year some of us marked Pearl Harbor Day by attacking America from within.

For five hours on Thursday, President Trump’s partisans delivered a reckless and sustained attack on the FBI and the special counsel. They amplified Trump’s claim that the FBI’s “reputation is in Tatters — worst in History” and that Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia probe, which has already secured guilty pleas from two Trump campaign officials and the indictments of two more, is part of a system that is “rigged,” “phony,” “dishonest” and using a “double standard.” Continue reading “The GOP’s all-out assault on justice”

Trump Causing Severe Damage, Congress Planning Worse

The following article by Cynthia Tucker was posted on the uexpress.com website December 7, 2017:

Credit: Adam/Flickr.com

In the waning days of the 2016 presidential election, worried political prognosticators, including more than a few moderate Republicans, papered over their fears about the possible victory of Donald J. Trump with reminders of the constitutional balance of power. An independent judiciary and a strong-minded Congress would prevent a President Trump from doing serious harm to the republic, they said.

Even then, those assurances seemed weak. Now, as Trump — with the assistance of a Republican Congress — proceeds to rip apart the social fabric, blow up traditional democratic norms and overturn longstanding foreign policy practices, those assertions seem laughable. The Trump presidency is destroying the nation and threatening the globe.

If that seems a bit hyperbolic, consider the warning that former President Barack Obama issued during an appearance a few days ago. “We have to tend to this garden of democracy, or else things could fall apart quickly,” Obama said. “That’s what happened in Germany in the 1930s which … Adolf Hitler rose to dominate.” Continue reading “Trump Causing Severe Damage, Congress Planning Worse”

As tax plan gained steam, GOP lost focus on the middle class

The following article by Damian Paletta was posted on the Washington Post website December 9, 2017:

Now that the Senate and the House have passed two tax bills, there are some crucial differences they need to resolve in conference. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

The GOP tax plan on the cusp of becoming law diverges wildly from the promises President Trump and top advisers said they would deliver for the middle class — an evolution that shows how traditional Republican orthodoxy swamped Trump’s distinctive brand of economic populism as it moved through Washington.

The bill was supposed to deliver benefits predominantly to average working families, not corporations, with a 35 percent tax cut Trump proposed on the campaign trail as part of the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act.” Continue reading “As tax plan gained steam, GOP lost focus on the middle class”

Flake rebuts Trump: US doesn’t have a ‘sick’ or ‘rigged’ system

The following article by Jesse Byrnes was posted on the Hill website December 8, 2017:

Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) chided President Trump in a tweet Friday night after the president asserted that the U.S. has a “rigged system.”

“This is not a sick system, Mr. President, nor is it a rigged system. Let’s not sow distrust in our democratic institutions,” Flake tweeted. Continue reading “Flake rebuts Trump: US doesn’t have a ‘sick’ or ‘rigged’ system”