Category: US Senate

The Finance 202: GOP drive to repeal estate tax risks making its tax plan more unpopular

The following article by Tory Newmyer was posted on the Washington Post website December 8, 2017:

If you didn’t know better, you might think some Republicans were trying to see how low they can drive public support for their tax plan. 

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.). (Reuters/Aaron P. Bernstein)

It’s already basement-dwelling, with lopsided majorities of voters consistently telling pollsters the GOP’s rewrite of the code will benefit the wealthy more than the middle class. On Thursday, 54 House Republicans banded together behind a push seemingly tailor-made to reinforce the suspicion. 

Their request, laid out in a letter to their leadership: to insist in conference negotiations on maintaining the House tax bill’s full repeal of the estate tax, rather than the Senate version, which doubles the current exemption to $22 million for couples.

“I get all the political arguments over, ‘Hey it’s an easier political deal to do it this way,’ particularly given the perceptions with the president,” Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), who organized the letter, tells me, referring to estimates that full repeal would save President Trump’s heirs $1.1 billion. “But the reality is, this is just a fundamental issue about, to me, a tax that seems immoral… It’s been a long-term Republican platform position. To me, it’s important to do the things we said we were going to do.” Continue reading “The Finance 202: GOP drive to repeal estate tax risks making its tax plan more unpopular”

Really? A Tax Break For Dark Money Outfits?

The following article by David Sirota with the International Business Times was posted on the National Memo website December 8, 2017:

With Republican megadonors like Charles Koch, 82, and his brother David, 77, advancing in age, a top GOP senator from the Kochs’ home state has proposed a special tax break for moguls who bequeath their riches to so-called “dark money” groups that advocate for policies and bankroll lawmakers’ election ads. Though Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts’ proposal did not make it into the Senate-passed version of the tax bill, it could still be added by the conference committee that will write the final $1.4 trillion tax cut legislation.

Although dark money groups are entitled to conceal the identities of their donors, reporting has shown the Koch brothers are some of most prolific deployers of such groups. Roberts’ proposal would provide a new post-mortem tax break to boost that activity — at a moment when the Republican Party’s biggest donors include septa- and octogenarians such as the Kochs, Sheldon Adelson, 84, Robert Mercer, 71, and Foster Freiss, 77.  Continue reading “Really? A Tax Break For Dark Money Outfits?”

If the G.O.P. Tax Plan Hurts You, Congressmen Say It’s Your State’s Fault

The following article by Jesse McKinley and Nick Corasaniti was posted on the New York Times website December 7, 2017:

Representative Tom Reed, left, was one of four House Republicans from New York to vote for his party’s tax plan. Credit J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

ALBANY — The five House Republicans have heard the calls for their heads, the references to them being traitors, hypocrites and worse for supporting a tax plan backed by their party, but harmful to the states they represent.

Not content to merely defend their votes, the five representatives from New York and New Jersey have begun a counteroffensive, seeking to turn the tables and blame state leaders for helping create high-tax environments.

“The problem is not the federal tax policy,” said Representative Tom Reed, a Republican who represents the struggling Southern Tier of New York, and voted yes on the House version of the bill in November. “The root cause of the entire issue is the tax-and-spend culture out of Albany that has created that burden on New Yorkers.” Continue reading “If the G.O.P. Tax Plan Hurts You, Congressmen Say It’s Your State’s Fault”

Senate GOP’s Immigration Bill Without Path to Citizenship Panned

The following article by Dean DeChiaro was posted on the Roll Call website December 8, 2017:

Democratic lawmakers and even some Republicans have concerns

Senate Democrats and even some Republicans are panning a GOP bill designed to protect undocumented young people and toughen immigration laws because it would not offer the so-called Dreamers a path to citizenship.

The bill, introduced this week by Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley and Majority Whip John Cornyn, would offer Dreamers enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, three years of protected status in return for enhanced border security, a crackdown on “sanctuary” cities and other GOP immigration priorities. Continue reading “Senate GOP’s Immigration Bill Without Path to Citizenship Panned”

An Economic Sugar High

The following article by Andrew Soergel was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website December 8, 2017:

Many economists aren’t optimistic about the long-term implications of the GOP’s tax overhaul.

President Donald Trump and the GOP congressional leadership have pitched their tax package – the passage of which appears to be a virtual certainty at this stage of the game – as a sure-fire formula to propel
As recently as Wednesday, Trump was quoted during a Cabinet meeting as saying he sees “no reason why we don’t go to 4 percent, 5 percent and even 6 percent” gross domestic product expansion in the months and years ahead.

Economists have broadly doubted these claims – though few quibble with the idea that the GOP-constructed tax plan would have a modestly positive impact on markets and the economy over the near term. Analyses from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Tax Policy Center and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Budget Modelhave all predicted a final bill, in a best case scenario, would add a few fractions of a percentage point to the country’s GDP growth rate over the course of the next 10 years. Continue reading “An Economic Sugar High”

Franken announces he will resign from the Senate as harassment issue rocks Congress

The following article by Ed O’Keefe and Elise Viebeck was posted on the Washington Post website December 7, 2017:

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Dec. 7 said he will resign from the Senate “in the coming weeks” amid allegations of sexual harassment. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde, Jenny Starrs/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Thursday announced that he will resign amid multiple allegations that he touched women inappropriately, a stunning political fall at a time when the issue of sexual harassment has exploded on Capitol Hill and enveloped both parties.

Yielding to pressure from other Democrats, Franken will now prepare to end a career that seemed just to be hitting its stride as he was emerging as a potent voice challenging the Trump administration — and was being seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2020. Continue reading “Franken announces he will resign from the Senate as harassment issue rocks Congress”

Bump Stocks Get First Hearing in Senate, Dealt Another Blow in House

The following article by Griffin Connolly was posted on the Roll Call website December 7, 2017:

ATF has begun process to re-evaluate bump stock classification, lawmakers told

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, held a hearing Wednesday that addressed bump stocks, making good on a promise after the Las Vegas shooting. Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

More than two months after the Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest in U.S. history, the Senate Judiciary committee held a long-awaited hearing addressing the bump stock devices the shooter used to kill more than 50 people and injure hundreds more.

“ATF’s authority to regulate firearms is of course limited by the terms of [the 1934 and 1968 firearms laws], and they do not empower ATF to regulate parts or accessories designed to be used with firearms,” Thomas E. Brandon, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), told lawmakers.

For the ATF to legally regulate bump stocks under current legislation, the devices would need to be classified as “machine guns,” Brandon indicated.

A legal review process launched this week to determine whether bump stocks fall within the definition of “machine guns” will take months. Continue reading “Bump Stocks Get First Hearing in Senate, Dealt Another Blow in House”

The GOP tax plan, state and local taxes deductions – and you

The following article by Capri Cafaro, Executive in Residence at American University, was posted on the Conversation website December 7, 2017:

The Capitol is seen at dawn on October 30, 2017, in Washington. Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

While Washington is claiming victory, states are crying foul.

Late last week, the U.S. Senate passed its version of the tax reform package that cleared the House a few weeks earlier. Within the hundreds of pages of legislative language in each bill lay a number of provisions that have significant impact on state governments, including modifications to the state and local tax deduction.

Under current tax law, individuals who choose to itemize and deduct eligible expenses on their federal tax return are able to deduct state and local income, sales and property taxes. Both the House and Senate billseliminate the so-called “SALT deduction” for state and local taxes while capping the property tax deduction at US$10,000.

As a former Ohio state senator, I served on the Senate Ways and Means Committee for a number of years. I also went through five state budget cycles over 10 years. Because of that experience, I believe the federal changes to the SALT deductions will be detrimental to American families and have long-term negative impacts on balancing state budgets. Continue reading “The GOP tax plan, state and local taxes deductions – and you”

After cutting taxes, Trump looking to localities to raise revenue for infrastructure

The following article by John Wagner was posted on the Washington Post website December 7, 2017:

President Trump capped off his infrastructure week with an address at the Department of Transportation on June 9. (Reuters)

Even as President Trump and Republicans in Congress seek to cut federal taxes, the White House has quietly come up with a very different plan for infrastructure: It wants to reward states and localities willing to raise taxes or other revenue to pay for new projects.

The dynamic is key to the Trump administration’s latest thinking on an infrastructure bill aimed at spurring a $1 trillion investment in the nation’s ailing roads, bridges, rail lines and airports. Originally touted by Trump as a first-100-days initiative — and one with the prospect for bipartisan support — it has stalled amid other bruising legislative battles. Continue reading “After cutting taxes, Trump looking to localities to raise revenue for infrastructure”

A Gun Rights Vote Only the GOP Base Can Appreciate

NOTE:  Rep. Erik Paulsen voted for this bill in the House.

The following article by David Hawkings was posted on the Roll Call website December 7, 2017:

Expansion of concealed carry permission will die in the Senate, but the NRA really wanted the vote

Majority Whip John Cornyn has some doubts that he can get a bill passed that would improve background checks for gun purchasers but doesn’t make it easier for gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines. A House bill passed Wednesday would do both. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call file photo)

One government shutdown may be narrowly averted, but another looms right around the corner. The stain of sexual misconduct at the Capitol continues to spread, and an alleged child predator is days away from possibly joining the Senate. Middle East destabilization seems assured as Congress gets its wish to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Public support dwindles daily for a loophole-encrusted, deficit-busting tax package that would be the year’s biggest legislative achievement. The push for presidential impeachment has gone far enough to necessitate procedural pushback in the House.

A week such as this one — already chockablock with headlines touching the Hill — seemed to the Republicans who run the place like an ideal time for making a bold hiding-in-plain-sight move.

And so it was that the House devoted more than two hours Wednesday to passing legislation that has no chance whatsoever of becoming law and is broadly unpopular with the electorate, but nonetheless fulfills the GOP’s commitment to doing the bidding of an extremely potent force in its political base. Continue reading “A Gun Rights Vote Only the GOP Base Can Appreciate”