For the first time in history, U.S. billionaires paid a lower tax rate than the working class last year
Tag: GOP congress
Trump faces growing GOP revolt on Syria
Republicans are in a full-out revolt against President Trump over his decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, a move broadly seen as putting the lives of Kurdish allies at risk.
The overwhelming opposition from GOP lawmakers is putting increasing pressure on Trump to reverse course. And it comes at a time when Democrats are moving full steam ahead with an impeachment inquiry.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s loudest congressional supporters, on Tuesday demanded a senators-only briefing on the Syria move, which he said betrayed the Kurds and would make it tougher for the U.S. to build alliances going forward.
View the complete October 9 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.
Fact Checker: The GOP theory that Ukraine ‘set up’ Trump
“That’s the piece of the puzzle I’m here to report today, that unlike the narrative of the press, that President Trump wants to dig up dirt on his 2020 opponent, what he wants is he wants an accounting of what happened in 2016. Who set him up? Did things spring from Ukraine? There’s a good piece we got an Oversight [Committee] letter on from Politico in 2017. Let me quote the article. It says: ‘Ukrainian government officials tried to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Trump.’ They did so by disseminating documents ‘implicating a top Trump aide in corruption,’ suggesting they were investigating the matter. Ukrainian officials also reportedly ‘helped Clinton allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.’ There is potential interference in the 2016 election. That’s what Trump wants to get to the bottom of, but the press doesn’t want to.”
— Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Oct. 6, 2019
Never mind that the rough transcript released by the White House of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shows that Trump said, “There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.”
Johnson says that what Trump really wanted to find out from Ukrainian officials is what happened in 2016. “Who set him up?” he asked. “Did things spring from Ukraine?”
View the complete October 8 article by Glenn Kessler on The Washington Post website here.
The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You
Almost a decade ago, Warren Buffett made a claim that would become famous. He said that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary, thanks to the many loopholes and deductions that benefit the wealthy.
His claim sparked a debate about the fairness of the tax system. In the end, the expert consensus was that, whatever Buffett’s specific situation, most wealthy Americans did not actually pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. “Is it the norm?” the fact-checking outfit Politifact asked. “No.”
Time for an update: It’s the norm now.
For the first time on record, the 400 wealthiest Americans last year paid a lower total tax rate — spanning federal, state and local taxes — than any other income group, according to newly released data.
View the complete October 6 commentary by David Leonhardt on The New York Times website here.
Anxious GOP treads carefully with Trump defense
Rank-and-file Republicans are treading carefully when it comes to speaking out about the escalating controversy surrounding President Trump‘s entreaties that foreign governments investigate former Vice President Joe Biden.
Republicans don’t want to get on the bad side of Trump, who is a powerhouse within the party. But they recognize a danger in speaking out too forcefully in defense of the president as details about Trump and his administration’s actions slowly trickle out.
“They’re handling [it] correctly,” one former GOP lawmaker told The Hill, referring to the cautious approach.
View the complete October 7 article by Juliegrace Brufke on The Hill website here.
GOP searches for impeachment boogeyman
Republicans are hunting for a boogeyman in the burgeoning impeachment fight as the party struggles to unify behind a single strategy.
Facing growing headaches, Republicans are eager to shift the public’s focus toward politically safer territory —ranging from former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to a “rigged” impeachment process.
The effort to find an alternative focal point comes as the party has been beset by political headaches this week, and largely remained silent on Trump’s suggestion that China open an investigation.
View the complete October 5 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.
Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman nails why Republicans won’t turn on Trump — and it’s not over fear of the president’s wrath
In a series of tweets on Thursday morning, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman mocked Republicans who have painted themselves into a corner with their slavish devotion to Donald Trump and now, in the face of real crimes that could lead to impeachment, refuse to condemn him for fear it will make them look like they have aligned with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democrats.
Leading off with, “So all the pundits who warned that Dems were making a terrible mistake are engaged in some serious soul-searching, right? Hahahaha,” the Nobel Prize-winning economist dug into what is holding them back — then coined a term to explain their reluctance.
“Actually, a real puzzle: why are so many center-right anti-Trumpers deeply opposed to holding Trump accountable for abuse of power? You might think they’d be glad to see him fall bc of his personal sins, not his policies,” he wrote before adding, “One answer might be Pelosi derangement syndrome: they may be anti-Trump, but can’t stand admitting that Dems are doing anything right. Strong overlap between never-impeachers and those who insisted Dems were blowing the midterms.”
View the complete October 3 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.
The Memo: Polling points to warning signs for GOP on Trump
President Trump is in new and dangerous territory this week, as some Republicans and administration veterans express unease about his actions, and polls show rising support for impeachment.
Voices that are normally supportive of the president have fallen silent, partly out of fear that new revelations could be around the corner.
A CBS News-YouGov poll released Sunday showed majority support for an impeachment inquiry, with 55 percent of respondents nationwide in favor and 45 percent opposed.
View the complete October 2 article by Niall Stanage on The Hill website here.
‘A presidency of one’: Key federal agencies increasingly compelled to benefit Trump
As the impeachment drama has unfolded over the past week, a series of disclosures has illuminated President Trump’s command over key federal agencies, revealing how he has compelled them to pursue his personal and political goals, investigate his enemies and lend legitimacy to his theories about the 2016 election.
The Justice Department has prioritized a probe that the president hopes will discredit a finding by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help him win. As part of that effort, Attorney General William P. Barr has met overseas with foreign intelligence officials to enlist their aid in “investigating the investigators,” as the right’s rallying cry goes, and dig into the president’s suspicions.
The State Department, meanwhile, has been investigating the email records of as many as 130 current and former department officials who sent messages to the private email account of Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and Trump’s 2016 opponent. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defied Congress on Tuesday by attempting to block the depositions of five department employees called to testify in the impeachment inquiry.
GOP uneasy with Giuliani
President Trump’s allies are growing increasingly uneasy with Rudy Giuliani’s role at the heart of the Ukraine controversy that has engulfed the administration.
A White House transcript and whistleblower complaint have shed additional light on the extent of the former New York City mayor’s efforts to dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in service of Trump.
Giuliani’s involvement has implicated members of the State Department, frustrated Republican officials and placed the former mayor in the crosshairs of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
View the complete October 1 article by Brett Samuels and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.