Tag: GOP corporate welfare

Tax Cuts Buoy Republicans, but They’re Swimming Against an Undertow

The following article by Jonathan Martin was posted on the New York Times website December 21, 2017:

President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, the House speaker Paul Ryan and the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell at the White House yesterday. Credit Al Drago for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The sweeping tax overhaul approved by Congress this week hands Republicans a long-sought achievement they believe will bolster their defenses in next year’s midterm campaign, but party officials concede the measure may only mitigate their losses in what is shaping up to be a punishing election year.

While the tax legislation is broadly unpopular as it reaches President Trump’s desk, the bill offers Republicans the sort of signature accomplishment they have been lacking to galvanize their demoralized donors and many of their voters. Continue reading “Tax Cuts Buoy Republicans, but They’re Swimming Against an Undertow”

Reality Check: The State And Local Tax Deduction

The following article by Pat Kessler was posted on the WCCO-TV website December 20, 2017:

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — President Trump celebrated Congress passing into law a major overhaul of America’s tax system.

It’s the biggest change to the tax code in decades.

It will take a few weeks for the average Minnesota worker to feel the effects of the tax bill.

By February 2018: lower tax brackets kick in, and middle income workers will see a bump up on their weekly pay checks. Continue reading “Reality Check: The State And Local Tax Deduction”

Trump notches first big legislative win with tax cut bill — but it’s far from his populist promises

The following article by Noah Bierman and Brian Bennett was posted on the Los Angeles Times website December 20, 2017:

President Donald Trump discusses Congress’ final approval of the tax bill. (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

After 11 months in office, President Trump on Wednesday got to celebrate one of the things he’s coveted most — a major legislative achievement — and on his party’s signature issue, tax cuts.

For a president who loves to tally wins and loathes losses, Congress’ final approval of the tax bill hours earlier was an essential capstone to a year in which Trump rolled back scores of regulations, sharply limited a refugee program, seated a conservative Supreme Court justice and opened vast new areas for oil exploration. Continue reading “Trump notches first big legislative win with tax cut bill — but it’s far from his populist promises”

Trump stands to save millions under new tax measure, experts say

The following article by Drew Harwell was posted on the Washington Post website December 20, 2017:

President Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

President Trump, who won the White House on a wave of populist promises, will likely save millions of dollars, thanks to Congress’s approval of a tax plan he pledged was designed for the middle class.

Trump, who said he would be a “big loser” if the bill passed, stands to gain immensely from the Republican tax overhaul, including through a lower top tax rate and lucrative deductions for top-earning households, according to attorneys and tax experts who reviewed the final bill.

Trump could also take advantage of benefits that will lift specific business sectors, including a last-minute tax deduction that helps many owners of high-value commercial real estate, the industry where he first made his fortune. Continue reading “Trump stands to save millions under new tax measure, experts say”

In Tax Overhaul, Trump Tries to Defy the Economic Odds

The following article by Patricia Cohen was posted on the New York Times website December 20, 2017:

A North Carolina plant that recycles plastic bottle chips. President Trump and congressional Republicans have argued that their rewrite of the tax code will create more jobs and raise wages.CreditChuck Burton/Associated Press

When President Trump adds his distinctive signature to the tax bill, he will also be making a huge bet that the Republican strategy of deep cuts for businesses and wealthy individuals will fuel extraordinary growth across the board.

Perhaps more than any other American political leader, Mr. Trump knows that long shots, like his own presidential bid, sometimes pay off. In that vein, he and congressional Republicans are arguing that their bitterly contested and expensive rewrite of the tax code will ultimately create more jobs and raise wages.

If they are proved correct, they will be repudiating not only historical experience, but most experts. From Congress’s own prognosticators to Wall Street’s virtuosos, scarcely any independent analyses project anything like the rosy forecasts offered by the president’s top economic advisers. Continue reading “In Tax Overhaul, Trump Tries to Defy the Economic Odds”

10 key takeaways from the Republican tax bill

The following article by Kim Soffen and Reuben Fischer-Baum was posted on the December 20, 2017:

President Trump is expected to sign a major overhaul of the tax code after the House passed a final iteration of the bill on Wednesday. It is his first major legislative achievement and has significant implications for individuals and businesses across America.

Here are the 10 biggest things to know about the bill: Continue reading “10 key takeaways from the Republican tax bill”

Trump just admitted the GOP’s tax cuts were deceptively sold

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website December 20, 2017:

During a cabinet meeting, President Trump lauded the passing of the GOP tax plan. (Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)

President Trump was so excited about passing his first major piece of legislation Wednesday that he blurted out that the Republican Party had misrepresented the entire bill, handing Democrats some potentially troublesome talking points for the 2018 midterm elections.

Speaking at the White House just before the House prepared to sign off on the tax-cuts bill one last time, Trump reveled extensively in his win before turning things over to Vice President Pence to heap praise upon him continuously for a few minutes. It was a thoroughly unique spectacle, even as victory dances and Trump Cabinet meetings go. Continue reading “Trump just admitted the GOP’s tax cuts were deceptively sold”

How the ‘Small-Business Tax Cut’ Would Also Be a Tax Cut for the Wealthy

The following article by Alicia Parlapiano was posted on the New York Times website December 20, 2017:

Republican lawmakers say that one of the largest tax cuts in their tax bill, a 20 percent deduction for pass-through income, is for small businesses and job creators. But there are also millions of other tax filers — many at the highest income levels — who would benefit significantly.

Pass-through income is business income that is taxed once at the individual rates of the business owner, instead of through the corporate tax structure. Nearly 40 million taxpayers claimed pass-through income on their individual tax returns for 2014. Continue reading “How the ‘Small-Business Tax Cut’ Would Also Be a Tax Cut for the Wealthy”

GOP tax plan doubles down on policies that are crushing the middle class

The following article by Steven Pressman, Professor of Economics at Colorado State University, was posted on the Conversation website December 20, 2017:


GOP tax plan doubles down on policies that are crushing the middle class
December 20, 2017 6.26am EST
A big part of that check is being drawn from middle-class accounts. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The U.S. middle class has always had a special mystique.

It is the heart of the American dream. A decent income and home, doing better than one’s parents, and retiring in comfort are all hallmarks of a middle-class lifestyle.

Contrary to what some may think, however, the U.S. has not always had a large middle class. Only after World War II was being middle class the national norm. Then, starting in the 1980s, it began to decline.

President Donald Trump has portrayed the tax plan Congress is wrapping up as a boon for the middle class. The sad reality, however, is that it is more likely to be its final death knell. Continue reading “GOP tax plan doubles down on policies that are crushing the middle class”

How Republicans Rallied Together to Deliver a Tax Plan

The following article by Jim Tankersley and Alan Rappeport was posted on the New York Times website December 19, 2017:

Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, and other Senate Republicans after passage of the tax plan on Capitol Hill early Wednesday.CreditTom Brenner/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The sting of failure on health care still lingered in the Senate on Aug. 3, when Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, summoned the Republican members of the Budget Committee to his office. We need to pass a tax bill this fall, Mr. McConnell told his colleagues, and we need a budget that allows us to do that.

There was no dissent. Continue reading “How Republicans Rallied Together to Deliver a Tax Plan”